


Lily Potter and the Potions Professor

by coldfusion9797



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Age Difference, Cross-Generation Relationship, F/M, Hogwarts, Magical Creatures, Pet toad, Potions Master Draco Malfoy, Professor Neville Longbottom, Teacher-Student Relationship, Unicorns
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-03
Updated: 2014-12-03
Packaged: 2018-02-27 23:24:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 34
Words: 32,834
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2710475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/coldfusion9797/pseuds/coldfusion9797
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lily Potter knew it was wrong but she couldn't help the way she felt about a certain potions master. She never would have thought that he felt the same.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Impression

**Author's Note:**

> This fic belongs to my sister TreasureHunterGirl. I'm posting it for her because she doesn't have an account. Still comment if you want and I'll be sure to pass them on to her. She'd love to know what you think. :)

Lily Potter was not looking forward to her fifth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This year she would be doing her OWLs and while she did well enough in all her classes she often got nervous during exams. She also had to live up to the high standard that her two older brothers, James and Albus, had set. She never would have imagined that her exams would be the least of her worries.

xxx

Lily sat at the back of the potions dungeon absentmindedly flicking through her new potions book, not really taking any of it in. Her long red hair fell forward concealing most of her face. She waited for the new professor to arrive, she had not been present at last night's dinner due to having lost her trunk on the train and she hadn't heard who would be taking over Professor Slosh's position as the Potions Master.

"Good morning," came a voice from the front of the room, Lily hadn't even noticed the new teacher enter. "I am your new potions teacher, Professor Malfoy."

His name was met with a torrent of whispers.

"Silence!" he said coldly scanning the room.

Everyone stopped talking immediately.

"Open your books to page 7 and read through to page 29," he ordered as the class groaned. "And do it in silence."

Lily watched him as he moved to his desk at the front of the class and began to go through some papers. His skin was so pale it was almost the same colour as his cold grey eyes, his white blonde hair was receding slightly and he was very tall and thin. He was dressed from head to foot in black. She wasn't sure what to think of him; she had heard stories about him from her parents as well as rumours around school about his son, Scorpius, but she could not shake the feeling that maybe there was more to her new professor then anyone could ever tell her.

"Lily, you better start reading," one of her classmates had nudged Lily whispering urgently. "I don't think you want to start off on the wrong foot with this guy."

Heeding the warning, Lily opened her book to page 7 and began to read. Not half a page into her reading however she found herself looking to the front of the room again. Professor Malfoy was now standing and looking around the room at his students. His gaze passed over Lily and then back tracked to look at her, noticing that she was watching him. They stared at each other for a moment before Lily quickly returned her eyes to her book, her heart beating fast. She couldn't figure out what had just happened, what was that look that he had given her? She could not read his expression and could not read her own reaction to it. Thankfully, he did not say anything, but continued his surveying of the class.

Throughout the rest of the lesson Lily could not concentrate. She was looking at her book, reading the words but not taking them in, she was fighting the urge to look up again. When the bell finally rang indicating the end of her class and the start of lunch, Lily let out a sigh of relief.

"Homework will be to read up to page 45 and be ready for a practical lesson next time," Professor Malfoy called out before leaving the room hastily.

Lily watched him sweep out of the room and disappear.


	2. Ron's Daughter

"What d'you think of the new potions teacher?" Lily asked her cousin Rose as they sat together, eating their lunch, at Gryffindor table.

"It's Malfoy," said Rose disgustedly and left it at that.

"Yeah," said Lily half-heartedly, she had not been able to stop thinking about the look they had shared and what it meant. Her eyes passed over her barely touched meal and came to rest on the staff table at the front of the hall. She scanned the teachers sitting at their usual spots and noticed that the seat usually occupied by the Potions Professor was empty, she felt slightly disappointed.

"He's not at the staff table," she said aloud.

"Who?" asked Rose as she looked up. "Oh, Malfoy, you're not still on about him, are you?"

"I was just curious as to why he's not eating with the rest of the teachers," said Lily, finally pulling her gaze from his empty seat.

"Probably because he's not welcome," said Rose. "Who'd want to eat with him?"

Lily frowned at this comment but did not reply. She knew that Rose felt a certain amount of contempt for the Malfoy family, no doubt inherited from her father. Lily, on the other hand, knew that her parents did not necessarily like the Malfoys but they had forgiven them to a certain extent and she, herself, did not really like or dislike them. Actually up until today she had never given them much thought.

"Scorpius' mother died, didn't she?" Lily asked Rose, unable to help herself.

"Yeah," said Rose softening her tone for the first time. "A couple of years ago."

"Maybe Professor Malfoy is still sad about that," suggested Lily.

"How would I know?" replied Rose. "Sorry, Lily, but to tell you the truth I don't really care either. The Malfoy's caused enough trouble in the past..."

"That they deserve it?" finished Lily angrily.

"Well, yeah, maybe they do," Rose shot back defensively.

"How can you think like that Rose?" Lily asked, tears welling in her eyes. "Don't you remember that my grandparents died when Dad was only a baby, don't you remember how much that affected him? What about Teddy? His parents died when he was a baby too. It's not easy for anyone. Maybe it was even harder for Scorpius because he knew his mother."

"Lily, I..." Rose was lost for words. She had really put her foot in it this time, another trait she had inherited from her father.

Lily gave her cousin one last contemptuous look before snatching up her bag, scooping up her pet toad, and storming out of the hall.

She slowed down as she made it to the entrance hall. She didn't even know why she'd gotten so angry or why she was suddenly concerned about Scorpius' grief over his mother. She didn't know what had caused her outburst and it worried her.


	3. Lonely Days at Hogwarts

Lily was sitting on the steps in the Entrance Hall watching the various students head off to Hogsmede. It was the first visit of the year and most of the third years and up were going. She sunk into her own thoughts as she watched the groups of friends laughing and having fun as they waited to have their names checked off the list. Lily had never enjoyed popularity like her mother had when she was at Hogwarts. She thought that perhaps she was more like her father in that way, a bit of an outsider. Although she didn't even have real friends like he did. She had a few people she was friendly with but no one that she felt that she could confide in or really count on. She thought that maybe she had somehow inherited some of the qualities from her parents' friend, Luna, for whom she was named. This never really bothered her though, she did have her older cousin, Rose, who had, in a way, filled that void. Lily liked to spend time by herself but she did get lonely occasionally. Just as she emerged from these thoughts a tall, thin seventh year Slytherin with white blonde hair passed her with a couple of friends. Lily watched Scorpius go by and was reminded of another Malfoy. _I wonder what he's doing right now_ , she thought.


	4. Working Late in the Library

The rest of Lily's first couple of weeks of school were relatively uneventful aside from the fact that she'd already been given a mountain of homework from each of her teachers. Along with her fellow fifth years she was receiving lectures in every class about the importance of their OWLs, almost to the extent that Lily didn't really care anymore. Uneventful her year was turning out to be, that was at least until one night when she ran into someone unexpectedly in the library...

Lily scribbled on a scrap of parchment as she tried to write her Defence Against the Darks Arts essay. It should have been easy for her but somehow the fact that her father had defeated the single most powerful dark wizard of all time and in doing so saved both the wizarding and muggle worlds made it even harder. She tilted her head to the side and smiled as she wrote the name Draco, tracing over the letters several times. A noise caught her attention and she looked up from her musings.

The library had gotten quite dark without her realising it. A tall figure was standing by the bookshelves near where she sat; it leaned towards the shelf and she saw the person's arm reach out for a book. When they came into view she saw that it was Professor Malfoy and she gave a small gasp as she hurriedly scrunched up the piece of parchment. Apparently, he had not seen her sitting there and stopped mid action with his hand still outstretched. They caught each other's gaze and held it; a little too long. Lily broke the stare and glanced to his left forearm which had become exposed when he'd reached up. She caught a glimpse of what she knew would be the Dark Mark, his constant reminder of his past. She quickly looked away and let her hair fall to cover her reddening face.

"What're you still doing here Potter?" asked Malfoy, as he lowered his hand and pulled his sleeve down.

"I..." Lily started.

"You had better get back to your dormitory, it's almost past curfew," he spoke in a steely tone but Lily sensed no anger or contempt.

"Of course, professor," she answered quietly as she started to pack her books into her bag.

As she got up and walked past him their robes brushed against each other and Lily blushed as her heart began to race. He reached out and grabbed her wrist, but not roughly. She looked up into his eyes and thanked God that it was too dark for him to see her face properly.

"I know what you saw," he said quietly.

Lily's heart was almost beating out of her chest now and she knew that he would have to be able to feel her pulse throbbing on her wrist which he still held.

"I didn't see anything," she breathed.

"Very good, Potter," he replied letting go of her.

She nodded and hurried off feeling his watchful eyes upon her until she got to the library exit.


	5. Falling for the Potions Professor

"Oh I can't stand that Malfoy creep!" Rose was irate to say the least.

"Which one?" asked Albus, from across the table as he, Rose and Lily sat eating breakfast together.

" _Professor_ Malfoy," replied Rose angrily as Albus chuckled. "It's not funny! He's given me detention every night for the next two weeks."

"I wish he'd give me detention," mumbled Lily.

"What?" asked Rose, as if she had only just noticed that Lily was there.

"Nothing..." Lily covered, unaware that her cousin had actually been listening. "I've got Care of Magical Creatures now so I better get down to Hagrid's."

Albus and Rose watched as Lily got up and hurried across the Great Hall.

"What's up with her?" asked Albus frowning.

"I don't know," replied Rose. "She's been acting a bit weird all term. I mean weirder than usual," she added at Albus' raised eyebrows.

Lily strolled slowly across the grounds day dreaming. She was off in her own world completely when suddenly she slammed into something...or someone. She stumbled backwards and fell to the ground.

"Watch it there, Potter," came a quiet voice that she recognised immediately.

"Oh...I...sorry," she mumbled as she blushed. _How embarrassing!_ she thought. Please let me die now.

"Well are you going to get up or just sit in the wet grass all day?" Malfoy asked extending his hand out to her.

She looked up into his eyes and they stared at each other for a long interval before she finally took his offered hand. As they touched her heart beat quickened and she blushed even more.

"Thank you," she mumbled as she steadied herself, trying to hide her face.

He frowned slightly but she could not read his expression. "You'd better hurry along, class starts soon," he said as he began his walk back to the castle.

Lily watched him leave, her heart rate slowing only when he disappeared through the front doors.


	6. Hagrid's Project

Care of Magical Creatures was Lily's favourite subject. She'd leapt at the opportunity to take it up in her third year and intended on continuing it until her seventh. She was good friends with Hagrid, who she had known all her life and shared his fondness for all creatures great and small; even the less friendly sorts.

"Hey there Lily," Hagrid called to her as she approached him. "Seein' as yer the only one here, come in I've got somethin' I wanna show yer?"

"Sure, what is it?" she replied as she followed him eagerly into his house.

Once they were both inside Hagrid shut the door and lead Lily over to a huge bucket on the table.

"What's in there?" asked Lily excitedly, knowing Hagrid it had to be something unusual.

Hagrid beamed at Lily's enthusiasm; "I've got a bit of a project," he said proudly.

Lily smiled and climbed onto one of the oversized chairs around the table and looked inside the bucket. Her eyes lit up.

"Aw, they're so cute, Hagrid!" she exclaimed.

Hagrid was positively thrilled; "I knew you'd love 'em Lily."

Inside the bucket was about ten tiny squids swimming around and spurting tiny puffs of ink at each other. Each of them was only about two inches long and they were all shining in an variety of different colours.

"What are you going to do with them Hagrid?" Lily asked, not taking her eyes off them.

"Well," said Hagrid. "I thought I might put 'em in the lake when they get a bit bigger, you know a bit of company for the one that's already there."

"That's a brilliant idea," Lily said. "I bet the Giant Squid does get pretty lonely." She stuck her hand into the bucket just breaking the surface of the water with her index finger. One of the larger ones swam over, circling the area. After a couple of minutes it started to touch her finger with it's tentacles and arms. Lily giggled as it tickled her.

"They're beautiful," agreed Hagrid looking fondly at the tiny molluscs.  
They heard some voices outside and both looked out the window.

"Looks like the rest of the class has arrived," said Hagrid as he made his way over to the door.

Lily reluctantly removed her hand from the bucket, took one last look at the tiny creatures and then jumped down from the chair and followed Hagrid outside.


	7. Reformed

Lily could not stop thinking about Professor Malfoy. How could she feel this way? He was as old as her father. He had a son that was older than her and who went to the same school as her. He was her teacher.

She thought of the looks they'd exchanged, the way her heart felt like it would beat out of her chest when they touched, the kind way he spoke to her when he was so cold to everyone else, the rare smile that he showed her more than anyone else. That night in the library and that day in the grounds. These were not just the fantasies of a teenage girl. They couldn't be, could they? She knew that he must feel something too. She wondered whether he would feel as conflicted as she did about...whatever this was.

XXX

Lily was the last to finish packing up her cauldron and potions equipment. The rest of the students had left the class room. She slung her bag over her shoulder and started towards the door.

"Well done, today, Potter," said Malfoy as she had almost made it to the door.

She looked up and smiled; "Thank you, professor."

"You're very talented, you know," he went on.

She smiled again and let the happiness well up in her at the idea that he thought she was talented. He thought that she was worthwhile.

"What other classes do you take?" he enquired after a short pause.

"Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology, Astronomy, Transfiguration, History of Magic, Charms, Defence Against the Dark Arts," she listed, a little uncertain when she reached the last one.

He smiled. "It's okay, I'm reformed."

Lily glanced at his left forearm, immediately wishing she hadn't.

He noticed this and asked; "Would you like to see it?"

She couldn't tell if he was joking but nodded slowly anyway. He pulled his sleeve up to reveal the Dark Mark beneath. Lily examined it intently, she reached out to touch it but he pulled away and she quickly withdrew her own hand.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled. After another short pause her curiosity got the better of her and she asked; "Does it hurt?"

"No," he shrugged. "Not anymore." He pulled his sleeve down to hide it again and looked away his eyes becoming distant, sorrowful. For once she thought she sensed what he was really feeling; regret.

"I don't judge you," Lily stated before she knew what she was saying. "I mean...well not that you'd care what I think," she added quickly, mumbling.

He watched her for a moment and then said quietly; "It's funny but for some reason I do care what you think Lily Potter," before turning and leaving her standing there staring after him.


	8. The Borrow and the Return

Potions soon became Lily's favourite lesson. She looked forward to Malfoy's classes even more than Hagrid's and stayed up late most nights reading her potions book; she wanted to impress him by being his best student. She knew it seemed stupid but he had given her a new passion for potions and she figured that it wouldn't do any harm to do well.

One day when she had potions first thing in the morning she hurried to the dungeons as early as possible. She was the first student to arrive and waited eagerly at the door to the classroom. Professor Malfoy arrived shortly after.

"You're early, Potter," he stated.

She smiled shyly at him and he smiled back as he opened the door. He hesitated for a moment with his hand resting on the door handle. Lily thought that she saw him glance in her direction.

"You can go in and wait, I forgot something, I have to go back and get it," he told her before turning around and walking back in the direction he'd came from.

Lily's shoulders drooped slightly as she made her way into the classroom and took her seat.

The rest of the class arrived over the next quarter of an hour and Professor Malfoy still hadn't come back. Lily sighed and opened her bag to get her book out; but it wasn't there. She must have left it back in her dormitory. Just as she was debating with herself about whether to go back for it , Malfoy entered the room and the class went silent.

He instructed the class to prepare their ingredients and brew a potion to cure boils. As the class began work Lily slowly approached Malfoy who had taken his seat behind the desk.

"Excuse me, professor," Lily said quietly.

"Yes?" he looked up and she felt her knees go slightly weak.

"I, er, I forgot my potions book," she said. "May I borrow one?"

He didn't answer her but pulled a drawer open in the desk and handed her a copy of the book that she needed.

"Thank you," she said smiling sheepishly and returned to her desk to get started on her potion.

XXX

Lily had been toying with the idea all day. She knew it seemed crazy but she had to try, didn't she? She'd gone over it in her head what felt like a million times; playing out the various scenarios. She knew that the odds were against her but she also knew that if she didn't go through with it she'd regret it so she picked up the borrowed potions book, wrapped her cloak around her and made her way out of her dormitory. She slipped through the common room unnoticed and exited through the portrait hole.

It was quite cold in the castle corridors and she was thankful that she'd brought her cloak. Lily clutched the book close to her and walked very slowly. Just as she made it to the ground floor her heart began to quicken. By the time she reached the dungeon corridor that lead to the potion masters office she thought her heart would be heard on the astronomy tower it was beating so loud. She stood at the door of Malfoy's office and raised her hand to knock; she hesitated and finally lowered her hand.

_This is ridiculous, go back now!_ She told herself but remained standing still.

_It's now or never, do it, you know you want to_ , said a small voice in the back of her mind.

Lily stood there for what felt like hours and finally without really making the decision she lifted her hand again and knocked. She gasped and put her hand to her mouth looking around wildly for a place to hide. She spotted a strange looking statue of an old wizard across the corridor and started for it.

"Potter, is that you?" came the voice of her professor as she was midstride, still half a dozen steps from her potential hiding place.

Lily stopped with her back still to him. _Oh crap!_

"Going somewhere?" he asked, a hint of amusement in his voice.

Lily gulped. "Oh, I thought you mustn't have been in."

"I know I'm a wizard Potter, but you give me too much credit, I'm not that fast," he replied.

Lily turned around to face him. He was standing in the doorway of his office leaning up against the frame, his arms crossed and a small smile on his face. She couldn't think of anything to say.

"Do you want to come in?" he asked her after a long pause. "I'm guessing you came down here for a reason."

Lily gulped again and slowly moved towards him. When she got to the door he moved aside to let her in. She looked around the corridor to make sure no one was watching them and then entered. Malfoy glanced up and down the corridor himself before closing the door behind them. He walked around behind his desk and sat down.

"Take a seat," he said as he waved his wand, conjuring a chair out of thin air.

"Thank you," replied Lily as she sat down.

"What can I do for you?" he asked watching her carefully as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

_Maybe this wasn't such a good idea._ Lily thought. _I'm going to make an absolute fool of myself._

Having considered her options she decided to go with her Plan B.

"I just wanted to return your book really, I've found mine so I won't need it anymore, thanks for lending it to me," she said all of this very quickly and stood up holding the book out to him.

"Oh," replied Malfoy also standing up, he looked slightly disappointed as he took the book from Lily.

They held their gaze with each other just a little too long again before Lily said; "I guess I'll get going…?" It was almost a question.

She turned and headed to the door.

"Wait," said Malfoy quietly.

Lily stopped; she couldn't help herself. If he said jump, she'd ask how high. When she turned around he was around her side of the desk leaning up against the edge of it. Unable to control herself any longer Lily made her way back across the room to him. She stopped just in front of him and looked up into his eyes. His eyes that were so deep, so full of…what was it? They harboured a secret but Lily had no idea what it could be; he was so good at hiding the meaning of his expressions and this only made her more drawn to him. She was lost in his eyes when he reached out and touched her cheek. She smiled at the feeling of his fingers upon her skin and she felt as though she would float away…

_Knock! Knock!_

Someone was knocking on the door. Both Lily and Malfoy's eyes widened as they heard the voice of his son call out.

"Father, may I come in?" Scorpius said from the other side of the door.

"Here," Malfoy whispered as he hurried to a large cabinet and opened the door. "Get in."

Lily didn't hesitate for once but jumped straight in as he closed the door and locked it. She sank down and sat on the floor amongst an assortment of small cauldrons and other potions equipment. She waited to hear what Scorpius had to say but realised that Malfoy must have put another spell on the cabinet when he locked it; she couldn't hear anything. After about ten minutes the door opened and Lily looked up, seeing Malfoy standing over her, he held out a hand to help her. She took it and stepped out of the cabinet trying to look at his face but he avoided her eyes.

"Are you ok?" she asked softly.

"It's quite late, maybe you should head back to Gryffindor Tower," he said still not looking at her.

"Why? What happened?" she asked reaching out to touch him.

He grabbed her wrist before she could make contact and finally looked at her.

"I can't do this," he said, letting her go. "It's wrong, I can't..."

"It's not," said Lily raising her voice. "You can, I want you to..."

"No, Lily, we can't!" he said firmly using her given name for once.

She looked at him with tears in her eyes and said nothing. She couldn't move, she couldn't think, this wasn't how she wanted it to go.

"Please Lily," he said and this time she could see the pain in his eyes. "We can't do this, not to Scorpius and not to..." He trailed off and looked away.

"To my father?" Lily questioned finally realising what was going on, what was really stopping him.

He exhaled and closed his eyes but did not correct her.

"This has nothing to do with him," Lily said. "I make my own decisions."

"This has everything to do with him," replied Malfoy. "This is wrong. Not only am I your teacher but you're Harry Potter's daughter."

"Who cares?" cried Lily in exasperation, throwing her arms up in the air.

"I care!" he said raising his own voice. "And I'm pretty sure he'd care too. Not to mention the rest of your family."

"I'm not dictated to by my family," said Lily fiercely. "I thought you of all people would understand that!"

She turned and stormed out of the room, breaking into a run when she reached the door, tears streaming down her face, all the way back to Gryffindor Tower.


	9. An Orphan

Lily was very woeful after her encounter with Malfoy on the night that she had returned his potions book. She still wasn't over the rejection she'd felt that night when he told her to go away. She could hardly bare to think about it.

She decided that she would pay Hagrid a visit in order to get her mind off things. So as soon as her last class of the day, History of Magic which seemed to be going even longer than usual, finished she headed straight to Hagrid's. It was mid-December and by the time Lily reached the front doors the sun was already low in the sky. The chilly wind bit at her ears and nose as she wrapped a brightly coloured scarf, knitted by her grandmother, around her neck and pulled the hood of her cloak up over her head. Her feet sloshed across the wet grass that was still harbouring the odd pile of half-melted snow which had turned an awful murky colour due to mixing with the mud. The sight of Hagrid's lit up house was very welcoming, especially because it had a large amount of wispy smoke issuing from the chimney. When Lily finally made it there she was shivering quite a bit.

"Coming!" she heard Hagrid bellow from the other side of the door after she'd knocked on it.

She heard a bit of scuffling around before the door opened.

"Lily!" Hagrid cried out at the sight of her standing in his doorway with the bottom half of her cloak and robes soaking wet. "What're doin' out on this dreadful evenin'?"

"C-can I come in H-Hagrid?" she stammered through chattering teeth.

"Oh, of course," said Hagrid suddenly opening the door wider and stepping aside to let her in. He closed the door behind her as soon as she'd passed him.

"Yer shouldn't be out in this type o' weather, yer'll catch yer death" said Hagrid in a you-should-know-better tone, although he did look very happy to see her.

"Don't worry about me Hagrid," said Lily confidently as she whipped out her wand and, muttering a charm, pointed it at the bottom of her robes. Hot air came blasting out of it and in a couple of minutes she was completely dry. "There, that's better."

"Now that's a useful spell," said Hagrid cheerfully as he busied himself with the kettle.

"How're things going? Any news?" Lily asked as she eyed a small heap in the corner, covered by a tattered blanket, it rose and fell at regular intervals as though it were breathing.

Hagrid noticed this and smiled guiltily. He was always entertaining some new creature, legal or otherwise, in his house and Lily was always keen to know what it was. Unlike her father or brothers who would've probably scolded Hagrid for keeping a dangerous pet, Lily would often congratulate him on the fact and spend hours doting over the new arrival.

"C'mon Hagrid, what is it?" she said unable to hide a giggle.

"Well, since yer asked," said Hagrid who hurried over to the blanket and gently pulled it off.

The sight below was so cute that Lily gasped and tears glossed her blue eyes causing them to sparkle with joy.

"It's an orphan," said Hagrid kindly as he looked down at the sleeping creature and tears formed in his own eyes.

Lily frowned slightly as she thought about it. "Hagrid, why did you have it hidden?" she asked.

"Well, I wasn't sure who was at the door and I know some people think that yer shouldn't keep 'em as pets, thinks it's cruel 'cause they've got such a free spirit," Hagrid explained. "I didn't know what else to do with 'im. I found 'im wanderin' around the edge o' the forest all lost in the snow. Unicorns never leave their young alone like that; he must be an orphan."

Lily looked back at the tiny golden unicorn sleeping soundly in amongst a pile of old blankets and cushions.

Hagrid was watching Lily nervously as though waiting for her reaction.

"Well, what's his name?" asked Lily finally and Hagrid breathed a sigh of relief at her approval.

"He hasn't got one yet," admitted Hagrid. "I only found 'im this afternoon."

"Oh can I name him Hagrid? Can I please," said Lily emphasizing the last word.

"Sure," said Hagrid before adding; "But none o' that Muggle nonsense like yer called that poor toad o' yours, he needs a good old-fashioned pet name."

"Oh alright," said Lily a little defeated and then with a glint in her eye; "How about Fido?"

When Hagrid's face lit up like a Christmas tree Lily automatically wished she hadn't made the joke.

"That's perfect, Fido it is!" boomed Hagrid clapping her heartily on the back.

The sound of both his voice and of his hand upon Lily's back, which knocked the wind out of her, caused the baby unicorn to stir before curling into a tighter ball and sleeping on.

"Better be a bit more quiet," observed Hagrid in a whisper. "The poor little thing's exhausted."

Once Lily had regained her breath she peered around the room and spotted what she was looking for; the large bucket containing the squid.

"Can I see how the squid are getting along?" she asked her gigantic friend who was still watching Fido with a smile of his face.

"Yeah, come on over," he answered as he strode over to the bucket.

As Lily approached it she noticed a strange fluorescent light emanating from within. When she reached the bucket and looked inside she was mesmerised but the sight before her. There were still ten squids swimming around but they had all grown to about 8 inches in length and were glowing brightly in an array of colours that reminded her of mother of pearl only even more beautiful. To add to it they were all gracefully swimming back and forth in an almost hypnotic rhythm.

Hagrid smiled as he watched her stare in amazement at the stunning creatures.

"They're so beautiful," she finally gasped.

"It'll be sad to set 'em free," stated Hagrid, nodding.

"When will you do it?" asked Lily tearing her eyes away from them.

"I think I'll wait until the spring," said Hagrid thoughtfully. "By that time they should be large enough and the lake won't be so freezin'."

Lily nodded in agreement but reflected that it would be a quite a shame to have their beauty concealed by the murky lake. She pulled herself from these thoughts and looked outside. It was very dark now even though it wasn't that late.

"I guess I should be going now," she said to Hagrid.

He looked out the window and agreed, walking her to the door.

"Don't set them free without me Hagrid, I want to be there when you do it," she said to him just in case he decided to do it earlier although she suspected that he would be very reluctant come spring.

"I won't," he promised.

She flashed him a smile before lighting her wand and dashing off across the black grounds towards the glowing castle of Hogwarts.

Lily was feeling a lot more cheerful by the time she made it back to the castle doors. She was once again soaking wet as the wind had been blowing a fine mist of sleet onto her while she'd made her dash from Hagrid's. Using the same charm she'd used before she dried herself off but still felt quite cold. She decided to get some hot food into her to warm herself up and headed towards the Great Hall. She'd almost made it to the doorway when she heard hurried footsteps on the stone floor. She turned around just in time to see the white blonde head and black robes of her Potions Professor ducking through the door leading to the dungeons. Suddenly dispirited by his evasion of her Lily turned away from the welcoming smells drifting out of the Great Hall and started her ascent to Gryffindor Tower with a heavy heart and an empty stomach.


	10. Christmas Surprise

It had been weeks since Lily had spoken to Malfoy. She was still angry with him for being so weak, for being... such a coward. Mostly she was angry because he'd been avoiding her so much; he would arrive to class just in time for the period to start and would leave immediately as the bell rang. He didn't make eye contact with her and if she looked up and saw him looking at her he'd quickly glance away. Lily was getting increasingly depressed and welcomed the arrival of Christmas break and the chance to spend some time with her family away from Hogwarts.

XXX

Lily stopped her hand as it reached for the door knob. She could hear voices coming from the kitchen. It was nearly midnight; who could still be up this late on Christmas Eve?

"What yer think Harry?" asked Hagrid's gruff voice.

"I guess he needed the work and well I don't think he'd really be welcome many other places," her father replied.

"With good reason," muttered Hagrid.

"Look, Hagrid, I know you're just concerned but I think he's paid enough for his mistakes, let's just leave it."

"Alright Harry but only because you said so. I'll still be keepin' an eye on 'im though."

"I don't doubt it."

Lily heard the shuffling of chairs and knew that they'd be coming her way any moment now. She quickly darted to a nearby cabinet and climbed in. She seemed to be spending more time hiding in cupbards this year than she usually would have. A moment after she'd pulled the door shut, leaving a tiny gap to peek out of, her father and Hagrid emerged from the kitchen.

"Good night, Hagrid."

"Night Harry."

They parted ways and headed for their rooms. Lily exhaled and climbed back out of the cabinet. She knew who they had been talking about and was strangely grateful that her father had decided to not cause Draco Malfoy any trouble.

x

"Lily, wake up! It's Christmas!" shouted an excited Rose, whose bedroom Lily had been sharing.

Lily's eyes flew open and she was suddenly wide awake and looking at a beaming Rose.

"Aren't you a bit old to still be this excited on Christmas morning?" asked Lily, smiling.

"No way!" replied Rose. "You're never too old to be excited about Christmas. C'mon, the presents are down stairs."

Lily got out of bed and followed Rose downstairs to the Weasley's living room where the whole congregation were gathered; her mother and father, Uncle Ron, Aunt Hermione, Hagrid, James, Albus and Hugo. Her grandparents and other aunts, uncles and cousins would be coming over later in the day but it had always been a tradition for the two families to spend Christmas Eve together and open their presents together before a huge breakfast on Christmas morning. As soon as Rose and Lily entered the room they all started tearing their presents open. Lily made her way over to her own pile of gifts and began to open them.

When she had almost finished she noticed a small package right at the bottom of her pile. Looking around and seeing everyone else still occupied with opening and comparing gifts Lily picked up the package and read the tiny card attached to it, her heart skipped a beat before hammering loudly in her chest as she recognised the writing; _For Lily. Happy Christmas. DM._ Lily looked up again and noticed her mother watching her. She slid the package down the sleeve of her dressing gown and smiled.

"Merry Christmas, Mum."

x

Later that afternoon while everyone else was recovering from lunch, Lily sat under a tree in the backyard of her aunt and uncle's place. The tree protected her from the gently falling snow that had already created a thick blanket across the rest of the yard. She held the small package in her hands and wondered what could be inside. He'd thought of her, he cared enough to get her a gift, this was from _him_ ; not all was lost. At the thought of him her heart fluttered and she blushed; any anger she'd felt before had now disappeared. Unable to wait a moment longer she began to unwrap the paper surrounding the mysterious object. Finally a small silver pendant fell out into her open hand. She looked closely and noticed it was on a delicate silver chain. The pendant itself was oval shaped with a detailed lion engraved on the surface. Lily smiled as she took in its intricate beauty. A small piece of parchment fell out of the wrapping paper and landed on the ground. Lily picked it up and read the text; _Patronus Charm_ , it said and she giggled at the pun. More words had been hand written underneath the label, in the same writing that had been on the card; _So you'll always be safe_. Lily closed her eyes and held the charm close to her heart, smiling. She let the euphoria fill her. This was the best Christmas she had ever had and suddenly she could not wait to return to Hogwarts.


	11. Right or Wrong

Professor Wandwood, the headmaster, stood at the front of the Great Hall on the first night back after Christmas and surveyed the students of Hogwarts. He cleared his throat and everyone fell silent.

"I have a special announcement," he declared in a loud voice. "Hogwarts will be hosting some very special guests at the end of this month."

There was a sudden ripple of excited whispers and Wandwood waited for silence to fall again.

"We will be honoured by the presence of Mr Harry Potter, Mr Ron Weasley and Mrs Hermione Weasley," he went on as excited chatter erupted in the hall.

_Oh great!_ thought Lily. _Why didn't they tell me?_

Apparently she was the only student who wasn't looking forward to the visit from the acclaimed wizards and witch. She loved her father and her aunt and uncle but she knew that their visit would draw unwanted attention to her, as it always did.

Professor Wandwood had finished his speech and large piles of delicious food had magically appeared along the four long house tables. Everyone was eating and talking enthusiastically.

Lily seemed to have lost her appetite and decided that she would take this chance, while everyone was distracted, to slip out of the Great Hall unnoticed. She had noticed that, as usual, Professor Malfoy was absent at the start of term feast.

She found him in his office where he seemed to spend a lot of his time. The door was slightly ajar so she pushed it open and peeked in. He was sitting at his desk, he had a quill in his hand but he wasn't writing anything or even looking at the piece of parchment in front of him. He had a distant look in his eye as though he was deep in thought.

"Hi," said Lily stepping into the room.

Malfoy jumped, apparently he hadn't realised that she was there.

"Sorry," she apologised.

"How long have you been there?" he asked, looking her in the eye for the first time in weeks.

"Only about a minute," she answered, walking closer to him.

Her necklace glinted in the light of the fire that was burning brightly in the fireplace. Malfoy smiled.

"Nice pendant," he said moving around the desk, towards her and taking it up in his hand.

"I wanted to thank you for it," Lily whispered leaning closer to him.

He let it go and it fell lightly on her chest. His grey eyes came up to meet her blue ones again. They were only inches apart now. Lily was almost on the tips of her toes as he cupped her face in his hand and leant towards her. Lily's heart was beating wildly and her breath caught. Their lips brushed in a gentle kiss. Lily reached up and put her hand on the back of his neck but at her touch he pulled away.

"What?" said Lily as her lungs finally filled with air again.

"I've told you," he said painfully as he hung his head.

Lily could feel the anger burning inside of her again but she knew that getting angry with him was not the way to go so she took his hand in hers and waited for him to look up.

After a long interval he finally looked up and faced her.

"Why did you give this to me?" she asked indicating the pendent hanging around her neck.

He broke their eye contact and took a deep breath.

"Draco," she said gently, urging him to be honest with her.

"I don't know," he finally answered. "I don't know what it is about you but..."

"But what?" she asked, desperate for him to tell her.

"But, I just want to be with you," he looked her in the eye again. "I know it's wrong, it's so wrong."

"It's not wrong," said Lily significantly. "It's not because I feel it too. I've spent the last four months trying to tell myself that it's nothing, just a school girl crush but it's not, it's so much more. It could be so much more if you'd just stop fighting it. Let this be what it should be."

"Sometimes it's not enough," he said. "Sometimes you can't always have what you want or what you want to be right."

"Why not? There's nothing wrong with this," Lily was almost pleading with him now.

He finally pulled his hand away from her and the tears came to her eyes.

"I need to do the right thing for once," he finally said.

"Oh so now you want to do the right thing," she said bitterly, turning away from him.

He didn't say anything and she wanted to yell at him; to grab him and shake him; make him listen to her. But she didn't and she reflected for a moment on how this reaction was so like him; so like the thing that made her so angry. Lily cast him one more hopeless look before turning and making her way towards the door. Just as she'd reached the door she heard a rustling of robes behind her. Before she could turn around he'd grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him. Without another moments wait he pulled her into a long kiss. When they finally broke apart she was shocked and he was smiling.


	12. Reassured

Once again Lily sat at the back of the potions dungeon. This time she looked nervously at the door, waiting in anticipation for her Potions Professor to arrive; waiting for Draco Malfoy to arrive.

He finally walked through the door and made his way to the front of the room, his eyes looking dead ahead. Lily watched him eagerly but he did not look her way. She hadn't seen him since their _encounter_ two nights ago and she wasn't sure how he would feel about it. He slipped in and out of confidence with her so much that she didn't know if he would have regressed to his former hesitant state or not.

"Please take out your cauldrons and ingredients," said Malfoy quietly with his head down.

The class obeyed and Lily followed suit.

"Turn your books to page 139 and attempt to brew the Elixir of Youth," said Malfoy looking up at last. He was looking at the class but his eyes did not focus on anyone in particular, much to Lily's disappointment.

The class chattered excitedly.

"Don't get too excited," called Malfoy over the babble. "The name is merely to make it sound impressive, the potion itself only has a cosmetic effect and no lasting result."

There was a collective sigh of disappointment from the class but they began their work anyway albeit with less enthusiasm.

Lily was the most disappointed of all but it wasn't because she'd just been told that the potion she was going to make would not make her indefinitely youthful. She was beginning to think that her fears had indeed been realised.

She pulled her potions book closer to her and examined the instructions. She was focused on this when she sensed a presence near her table. Trying to be as discreet as possible so she did not arouse any suspicion in Anthony McLaggen, who was working beside her, Lily looked sideways out of the corner of her eye. She saw Malfoy standing not far from McLaggen and noticed him tucking his wand back into the inside of his robes. She had no time to ponder this action because the cauldron next to hers suddenly started spewing a large amount of purple smoke. Only seconds later a loud blast erupted along with a wave of heat. Lily jumped and took a few steps back in shock. The rest of the class stared in the direction of the explosion.

"McLaggen!" came Malfoy's voice from somewhere in the purple haze.

Lily heard McLaggen gulp.

As the smoke began to clear he came into view and Lily had to fight back a giggle. He looked quite similar to one of the unfortunate characters on a Muggle cartoon show who receives a present that turns out to be dynamite. His face was blackened and his hair was sticking straight up. Lily could've sworn the impact had sent his eyebrows up an inch higher than where they would've usually rested.

"You're supposed to stir after you add the newt's tail," said Malfoy sternly. "You there, Smith, take McLaggen to the hospital wing and get him checked out by the nurse." He indicated to the student on the other side of Lily who at once went to McLaggen's side and started helping him out of the dungeon.

Once they had exited and the class had resumed their work, Malfoy moved to the spot where the mishap had taken place and began to clean up the mess. Lily suddenly became very nervous with Malfoy so close; they had not been this close to one another since their kiss. She stole a glance at him and noticed that he wore an amused smile.

"You did that," she said quietly as she continued to chop up a strange looking mushroom-like ingredient.

"Is that an accusation, Potter?" replied Malfoy, who also kept his eyes on the task in front of him.

She couldn't tell if he was joking or not and had to look at him in order to make sure that he was still smiling, which he was. Relief swept through her.

"Maybe, why?" she replied.

"Because if it was I may have to see you after class about it," he whispered.

"Well in that case," she said pausing playfully and with sudden confidence. "I think it was an accusation."

He chuckled silently and Lily beamed within. She hadn't felt this good all year and it was because of him, he'd finally accepted their relationship. Is that what it was now? A relationship? More than just a student and teacher relationship? The thought of it appealed to her, to have a secret and forbidden relationship with him, Draco Malfoy.

"Sir, I need help!" bellowed one of the other students suddenly.

Malfoy, who was still busy cleaning up McLaggen's mess, let out an annoyed sigh.

"Duty calls," he said as he winked at Lily and made his way over to the student who had summoned him.

She watched him leave but still smiled, just watching him was sometimes enough for her.


	13. Still In Doubt?

_"You won't be going back to Hogwarts again," her father's words rang in her ears. "I don't want you in the same building as Malfoy, he's dangerous."_

_Lily didn't know what was happening. How could he be saying this? Not a week ago she'd heard him telling Hagrid to back off and now he was telling her she couldn't attend Hogwarts because of Malfoy; one of the only reasons she wanted to return._

_"You can only go back once he's gone and that's final!"_

_XXX_

_"I'm so glad Mum finally convinced Dad to let me come back to Hogwarts," said Lily to Rose as they sat at Gryffindor table once again._

_"Well I think he had a valid point," said Rose almost robotically._

_"Not you too?" asked Lily, she'd hoped that Rose at least would see how stupid the idea was._

_She looked up to the staff table and sighed. "Well it looks like Professor Malfoy's not eating in the hall again." She didn't know why she was saying this, especially to Rose who had made it quite obvious that she detested the Malfoy family more than anyone._

_"What are you on about?" asked Rose. "He's gone, that's why you got to come back to school. Malfoy's gone. He's never coming back!" She shouted the last statement and Lily felt her heart pound wildly in her chest as her whole body went rigid with shock…_

Her eyes flew open and she sat bolt upright in her bed. Her heart was still beating rapidly and she was shaking. It was only a dream, no not a dream, a nightmare. Lily closed her eyes and slowed her breathing, taking long deep breaths. Malfoy was still here, he hadn't gone away…had he? The thought hit Lily hard. She didn't really know if Malfoy was still in the castle. She couldn't be sure. But he had to be, she'd seen him only yesterday. Anyway, he wouldn't leave without saying goodbye to her, would he? She pondered this for a moment. If she knew anything about Malfoy it was that he could well leave without telling her; he would take the easy way out if he could.

Deciding in only a moment, Lily got out of bed and donned her cloak over her pyjamas. She grabbed her wand and quietly muttered a charm to inflate her bed sheets to make it look like she was still in bed should any of her roommates wake before she returned. She grabbed a clump of Peruvian Darkness Powder which she always kept a supply of, just in case, and headed down the stairs to the common room. It was past midnight and thankfully none of the other Gryffindors had stayed up late so Lily hastily crossed the room and clambered out of the portrait hole.

She'd made it all the way to the dungeons by the time she stopped and really thought about what she was doing. Once again she realised it was quite ridiculous to be suddenly standing at Malfoy's door. But she had to check that he was still here, she just had to. So she raised her hand and knocked quietly on the wooden door. After a few minutes there was no answer and Lily felt her heart sink and tears beginning to form in her eyes. She waited another minute and then pulled her wand out.

"Alohomora," she whispered pointing it at the lock. She heard a faint click indicating that her spell had worked.

She eased the door open and slid inside the dark office. Once she was inside she closed the door behind her and lit her wand. She then crept hurriedly over to the door at the back of the office which led to Malfoy's sleeping quarters. She again tried using a charm to unlock the door but this time it didn't work. Lily frowned; apparently Malfoy had upped the security on his personal room. She raised her hand and was just lowering it to knock when the door swung open and her hand, still travelling through the air, collided with Malfoy's bare chest.

"Potter?" Malfoy said in a half relieved, half surprised tone.

He was standing in his doorway with his wand in his hand. His hair was dishevelled and his eyes were blinking heavily as though he had only just woken, which was more than likely the case. He was wearing long flannel pyjamas pants and no shirt.

Lily felt her face blush violently. Her hand still rested where it had landed. She removed it hastily even though she was enjoying the warmth of his skin.

"Sorry...I..." she stammered, eyes fixed on his chest which she noticed bore long slender white scars which criss-crossed across his body in random patterns.

He smiled and followed her gaze crossing his arms across his chest. "You can thank your father for those," he said.

Lily blushed even more, if that was possible and finally lifted her gaze to meet his. "My father?" she asked.

"Yes," Malfoy laughed humourlessly.

"He did this to you," Lily said painfully.

Malfoy didn't say anything but turned and retreated into his room taking a seat in a leather arm chair and lighting a couple of candles with a swish of his wand.

Lily stepped into the room after him and took in the view. She had never seen inside a teacher's bedroom before but she thought that it'd be safe to assume that none of the other teachers' rooms looked like this. The room itself wasn't particularly large but it seemed bigger because it was quite scarce; it didn't look like somewhere that someone lived because it didn't have any home-like qualities to it. The walls and floor were bare. The wall opposite the door had a stone fireplace in it which, being winter, had a fire smouldering away in it. The bed was up against the wall to the right and there was only enough room for a trunk to sit on the floor at the end of it. The wall opposite that harboured a cabinet that held a quantity of bizarre looking items in the top half which had glass doors. Lily had only ever been down Knockturn Alley once but she'd seen similar things there. Next to this was a wardrobe which presumably held clothes. The armchair that Malfoy occupied was next to the fire and there was a small table beside it with a bottle and empty glass sitting on top.

"What are you doing here?" asked Malfoy rubbing his eyes to wake himself up more.

"Oh," Lily remembered why she had came and suddenly realised how stupid and childish it seemed. She paused for a while before saying; "It's stupid."

"Nothing you do is stupid, tell me what brought you here, in the middle of the night," Malfoy said quietly.

"I had a dream," said Lily and the remembrance of it brought tears to her eyes. "I thought you were gone."

"Gone?" Malfoy asked, taken aback. "Why on earth would I be gone?"

"I said it was stupid," she sobbed as she became overwhelmed with emotion; relief at finding him still here more than anything else.

Malfoy eyed her for a moment and then rose and approached her. He put his hand on her shoulder and looked into her eyes. "You're not being stupid Lily, it's ok."

He pulled her into a one-armed hug and she clung to him, wrapping her arms around his thin body. He was that much taller than her that her head rested on his chest. She could hear his heart beating and grinned at the fast pace it was going. She enjoyed the moment as he gave in and hugged her back putting one arm around her and resting his other hand on her head.

"I'm not going anywhere," he whispered.

Lily let go of him and looked up into his eyes. They just stood there for a while looking into each other's eyes before he put his hand on her cheek and kissed her lightly on the lips.

Lily still had her hand on his chest and she could feel where his skin was slightly raised from the scars.

"How did he do it?" she asked.

"A spell," said Malfoy plainly.

Lily wanted desperately to ask what spell and why but she could sense that he didn't want to talk about it so she didn't say anything.

"Maybe you should go back to your dormitory now," suggested Malfoy eyeing a small clock on the bare mantelpiece; it was one o'clock.

"Oh," said Lily a little dejected.

"If you want to..." Malfoy trailed off.

"Can I stay here?" asked Lily deciding that if she didn't ask he wouldn't offer.

Malfoy's head flew up and he looked at her stunned.

Lily realised an instant too late what that had sounded like and felt her face redden again.

"That's not what I meant," she stammered hurriedly. "I...just...I mean."

Relief swept over Malfoy's face and Lily felt even worse.

"I'll go," she said without looking at him and turning on the spot.

"You can stay," he said.

Lily couldn't help but smile as she turned around faced him again.

"I mean," he added. "For a while longer. But I think you should go before morning."

Lily nodded and stepped further into the room as Malfoy walked over to the door and closed it.

He walked over and flopped back onto the bed, his legs still dangling over the side. After a short pause he propped himself up on his elbows and looked at Lily. Drawn to him, she walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed next to him. He sat up when she got there and seemed to be avoiding her gaze.

"I suppose you want me to tell you about this," he said waving his hand at the scars across his chest.

"Only if you want to," Lily said quietly but she was really dying to know. Obviously this was a story that her father had not told her.

"I want to tell you," Malfoy said sincerely.

"Ok," it was all Lily could manage; she was captivated by him. He was finally going to reveal something about himself to her.

"As you already know I was a Death Eater," he said this very conversationally and Lily thought that he was not as at ease with the fact as he liked to pretend. "I was assigned a task, a task that I didn't carry out, something that I couldn't do."

Lily listened to his words, mesmerised by them, and strangely overjoyed by the fact that he trusted her enough to tell her his story.

"Anyway," he continued after a moment's reflection in which Lily thought his eyes became glossy for an instant before returning to their usual distant state. "I was contemplating the task and well I had realised that I couldn't do it so I..."

He seemed to be having difficulty in telling the story that he had offered to Lily.

"You don't have to keep going," she said softly putting her hand on his.

"I want you to know," he said earnestly before resuming his story. "I knew what the consequences would be if I didn't go through with it, I knew that he'd kill me, kill my family and I knew he would show no mercy. Your father came across me, not accidently I don't think, in a moment of weakness which I didn't want anyone to witness, especially not him. I loathed him so much, probably almost as much as he did me. I panicked and instinctively reacted by firing a hex at him. He was defending himself and he hit me with the spell that did this."

Lily's eyes were filled with tears by this point. She felt his pain in the way he'd told the story, and his regret. The emotion flowed through into his tone and although she knew that he had omitted certain details from his tale he could no longer hide his emotions from her.

"I suppose I should have said I defeated a dragon or something," he joked without laughing.

"It wasn't your fault," she said. "You had no choice in what you did."

She was no longer talking about his scars.

"I had a choice, Lily," he said. "I just wasn't strong enough to make the right one."

"But you're able to admit that you made that mistake," she implored. "And that makes you even stronger."

"You're too kind to me," he stated after looking at her for a moment.

She smiled at him and yawned unexpectedly.

"You're tired," he pointed out. "Here take the bed; I'll sleep on the chair."

She crawled to the other side of the bed and lay down. He went to get up but she grabbed his arm and stopped him, pulling him back down onto the bed.

"Lily I don't think we should..." he started hesitantly.

"Just lay here with me," she said sleepily.

He looked from her to the chair and back to her again.

"Alright," he said as he lay down beside her and put his arm around her.

Lily smiled as she drifted off to sleep, comforted by the presence of Draco Malfoy.


	14. Quidditch Detour

Lily dawdled down the fifth floor corridor as excited Gryffindors raced past her and out of sight. They were all eagerly heading for the Quidditch pitch for a Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw match. Lily had never taken much interest in Quidditch which she was actually a little ashamed about considering the rest of her family were such avid fans. Because of this she'd tried to make it to at least one match a season to keep up appearances.

She was quite alone by the time she reached the fourth floor and was still making no hurry when someone grabbed her and pulled her in behind an extremely large statue of a Hippogriff.

"Hi Lily," said Malfoy smiling as he released his hand from her mouth which he'd put there to stop her crying out.

"What're you doing?" she giggled as she peered back over her shoulder to check if anyone else was in the corridor. "We could get caught."

"Right now, I wouldn't care if we did," he said as he pushed some of her hair away from her face and looked at her thoughtfully.

She blushed under his gaze and looked nervously out into the corridor again.

"Relax," said Malfoy and Lily fought the urge to tell him that maybe he should try relaxing a bit more himself.

When she turned back to him he was closer to her and she stepped back reflexively and was stopped by the back of the statue behind her. Malfoy put his arm up and rested it on the statue as well, leaning over her, still smiling.

Once again Lily's breath caught as he leaned down to kiss her. When their lips touched it was like he was giving her a kiss of life and she could suddenly breath again. And once again they were interrupted by a tapping sound. This time, however, it wasn't knocking; it was footsteps.

Lily suddenly pushed Malfoy away from her and stepped out into the corridor, leaving him behind the statue. She motioned for him the remain there but he followed her with an amused look on his face just as Neville Longbottom rounded the corner and stopped at the sight of them.

Lily gulped and looked up to Malfoy for help.

"And ten points from Gryffindor for back chat," he said in a stern tone but he looked like he was ready to burst into laughter.

Lily glared at him; she'd never been in trouble before and now here he was punishing her in front of one of her parents' oldest and best friends.

"Is everything ok here?" asked Neville as his gaze shifted from Malfoy to Lily and back to Malfoy.

"Of course, _Professor_ ," said Malfoy and Lily noticed that he no longer had a smile on his face and his tone was genuinely cold. "Miss Potter here has just been giving me a piece of her mind, and it's not a particularly nice piece."

Lily watched on as Malfoy's fabrication played out with perfect effect.

"Lily," said Neville looking at her incredulously.

"I know you may find it hard to believe Longbottom," Malfoy said severely. "But Potter isn't quite so delightful to all of her professors as she is to you."

Lily watched Malfoy still astounded by the venom in his voice. He was only acting, wasn't he?  
Before Neville, who himself had an astounded look on his face, could say anything more, Malfoy put his hand on Lily's shoulder.

"I was just going to take Miss Potter to my office for the detention that she so cunningly tried to avoid," he said, still staring maliciously at Neville. "If you'll excuse us?"

Neville said nothing as Malfoy steered Lily away, who could only give him an apolegetic look, which judging from his expression only confused him more.

The two walk on in silence until they were another two floors down. By this time Malfoy was smiling again, almost chuckling to himself, a triumphant look upon his usually defeated face.

"What was that all about?" asked Lily, trying unsuccessfully to hide an accusatory tone.

"What'd you mean?" asked Malfoy with a look of genuine surprise.

"You didn't have to be so mean. Nev... I mean Professor Longbottom's my friend," said Lily casting a sidelong glance at Malfoy who stopped in his tracks.

"I was only trying to make it believable," said Malfoy, again the smile wiped from his face.

Lily said nothing and looked away.

"I could hardly have said; 'Hello Neville, how are you, old boy?' That would've just made him more suspicious."

"There's no need to mock," said Lily.

"Sorry," said Malfoy softening his tone. "We just can't risk anyone finding out, I was only acting, I meant nothing by it."

"Alright," said Lily brightening a little.

He moved closer to her and put his hand on her cheek; "Is it really all right?"

She couldn't help but believe him and she couldn't help but smile when he looked at her like that.

"Yes," she said confidently. "Now what were you saying about your office, and detention?"

He smiled playfully; "This way Miss Potter."


	15. Something Amiss

"Lily!" called Hagrid from across the courtyard. "Lily!"

Lily turned and saw the form of her enormous friend beckoning her to him. She waved and detoured in his direction.

"How are you Hagrid?" she said as she reached him.

"I'm alright, but I've got a bit of sad news," he replied gloomily.

"What is it?" asked Lily anxiously.

"It's nothin' ter fret about," Hagrid reassured her and she relaxed a little. "It's about Fido."

"He's not sick is he?" asked Lily as she noticed Hagrid's eyes becoming moist.

"No, no, he's fine," said Hagrid. "But he's gone back ter the forest."

"What? Why? He's too little," exclaimed Lily wondering what on earth could've possessed Hagrid to allow a helpless little creature like Fido to fend for himself in the scary forest.

"He'll be ok," said Hagrid who was really fighting back the tears now. "He's with his mother."

"Oh," said Lily in relief although, like Hagrid, the news which should have been very welcomed made her a little disappointed. She had been looking forward to helping Hagrid raise the baby unicorn.

"One of the centaurs told me that the unicorns were all very sad because they'd lost one of their foals and then I told 'im about Fido," recounted Hagrid. "So I went and got Fido and took 'im along ter the herd and they were all overjoyed ter see 'im and I had ter let 'im go back to 'em."

Lily reached up and patted Hagrid's elbow in an attempt to comfort him.

"At least he's back with his family now," she said. "It's for the best."

"I know it is," said Hagrid. "But it was still hard to say goodbye ter 'im."

"How are the squid going anyway?" asked Lily trying to change the subject to something a bit more cheerful.

"Oh they're great," replied Hagrid brightening at the thought of them. "You should really come down and have a look one day before class. They're all growing and changin' colours. They really are marvellous for non-magic creatures."

Lily smiled and nodded but shifted uneasily on her feet as the guilt of not having gone to Hagrid's just for a visit since she'd returned to school set in.

"Anyway," continued Hagrid oblivious to Lily's shame. "I better get back to it. I'll see you around Lily."

"Bye, Hagrid," she answered and watched him wander off back towards the grounds.

"I hope you two aren't up to anything," said a quiet voice from directly behind Lily that made her jump.

She turned around and saw who she'd immediately known it was; Malfoy.

"You scared me," she said although she was grinning. "What do you mean _up to something_?"

"I just think you should be careful around...him," he replied as his eyes wandered in the direction of Hagrid's departing back.

Lily followed his gaze and then turned back to look at his face.

"Hagrid?" she asked in bewilderment.

"Yes, Hagrid," he said returning his eyes to her. "He keeps a lot of dangerous creatures. Creatures that I don't think even he can control."

"Don't be ridiculous. There is no one I'd trust more than Hagrid," she reassured him. "I've never felt threatened around him or the creatures he keeps." She was a little surprised at how defensive she'd become.

"Very well," replied Malfoy stiffly and Lily thought that she sensed a bit of jealousy in his tone before he softened it. "I just want to know that you're safe."

"I'm fine," she told him but couldn't help smiling because he cared.

He returned the smile and then turned to leave as the courtyard began to fill with other students.

Lily watched him until he was out of sight and she was still smiling at the thought of him when someone said her name, snapping her out of it.

"What were you thinking about?" said Rose grinning in a knowing way. "Not a boy was it?"

"No," said Lily immediately, trying to cover but only confirming Rose's theory.

"It was, wasn't it?" cried Rose excitedly before giggling. "Lily's in love!"

"Quiet!" urged Lily. "I am not."

"Yes, you are, I saw that look on your face," pursued Rose, still as loudly as ever.

"Keep it down," said Lily sternly as a few students around them began to look in their direction. "I'm not in love."

"I think you are Lily Luna Potter and I'm going to find out who with," Rose teased before grinning immenselyand joining a group of friends heading to their next class.

Lily stood there glued to the spot and fuming at herself. Now Rose knew that something was going on. Now Rose knew that Lily was in love. In love? Was she? Was Lily Potter in love with Draco Malfoy? She supposed that she was but now the question that came to her pushed all thoughts of Rose out of her head; was Draco in love with Lily?


	16. Another Patronus

In contrast to her feelings before Christmas, Lily was now on cloud nine. Things were better than they'd ever been between her and Malfoy. He was still painfully hesitant with her sometimes but he was giving in a lot more now so Lily figured that she'd take what she could get and face any difficulties when they came up rather than wait for them in anticipation. She was blissfully unaware just how soon one of those difficulties would turn up.

XXX

It had been one month since Lily had seen her parents at Christmas time and although she had initially been dreading her father's visit to Hogwarts, her good mood permitted her to be excited about the prospect of seeing him again.

She thought that she may as well take advantage of the fact that Harry had just presented a lecture to her and her fellow fifth years and approached him after he'd finished.

"Dad, what do you know about when a Patronus changes its form?" Lily asked feigning mild curiosity.

She had really just spent the last couple of hours trying to think of a way to ask him without sounding too concerned. She was really worried actually, because she had noticed that her Patronus was no longer an oversized toad as it had been for the last two years; ever since her father had taught her how to conjure one.

"Well," he said. "I know that it can happen. I have seen it before. Why? Has your Patronus changed recently?"

"It has," she said still a little worried.

"Don't worry about it," he said as he smiled at her, noticing the anxiety in his daughter's expression. "A Patronus is our protector, it is the embodiment of our happy memories and thoughts. We create it based on these feelings. So if yours no longer resembles your toad then I guess something else has come into your life that makes you feel safer, something that is more comforting to you." He looked at her questioningly.

"Oh," she said as she thought of her new Patronus.

"What does your Patronus look like now?" he asked her.

"It's..." Lily hesitated, only just realising who the Patronus might be, wondering if her father would recognise him.

"Yes?" said Harry.

Deciding it would only look suspicious if she pulled out now Lily said quietly; "It's a ferret."

"A ferret?" he repeated, somewhat surprised.

"Yeah, isn't that funny?" said Lily, laughing nervously. "Oh well, I guess it's a mystery." She attempted to make a get away but Harry stopped her.

"Is there something you aren't telling me Lily?" he enquired and now she really wished that she hadn't mentioned it at all.

"No," she answered and before he could stop her again she made her escape.

As she crossed the Great Hall and headed for the exit she passed Malfoy who had been one of the teachers supervising the students during the lecture. She looked at him and he winked at her smirking, she glanced over her shoulder at her father; who was still watching her. She gulped and hurried away as Harry looked at Draco Malfoy, a dark frown forming on his face.


	17. Said Too Much

"Miss Potter! Are you listening?" Lily was brought back to reality by the harsh voice of Professor Naos, the Astronomy teacher. "We only have a very short time to see this constellation and you're wasting it day dreaming. You'll miss it."

The class sniggered at their Professor's comment; it was the middle of the night and she'd accused Lily of day dreaming. She was accurate, however, Lily had not been listening; she had been deep in thought and she wished that it had been one of those occasions when you're interrupted and can't remember what on earth it was that you'd been pondering. Alas, she remembered exactly what it was that she'd been dwelling on; her father. She'd seen that look on his face when she'd left the Great Hall after their discussion about her Patronus. She knew that he may well have realised a lot more than she'd have liked. She cursed his inquiring mind and cursed herself for telling him as much as she had. Things were just starting to go right with her and Malfoy and now because of her big mouth and terrible lying skills her father was probably going to ruin it all. She was worried about what he might do; he could be such a hot head sometimes. Act now and think later; they were both guilty of that.

By the time her class was finished at 2:00am Lily was exhausted. She reached her dormitory and flopped back on to her bed without changing into her pyjamas. She stared up at the canopy of scarlet fabric and sighed; she couldn't sleep even though see was dead tired. Absentmindedly Lily began to play with the 'Patronus Charm' around her neck. She had to do something to deter her father from his suspicions, but what? She sat there thinking for an extended amount of time but came up with absolutely nothing. In the end she decided that she'd at least have to warn Malfoy about what her father may or may not have figured out. That was something that she knew she _should_ do but didn't necessarily _want to_ do. She knew if she told Malfoy he'd back off and she didn't want him to but she didn't want him to be completely unaware of the situation either. She knew the right thing to do was to give him the heads up.

The next morning Lily rolled out of bed and dressed herself in a fresh set of robes. She felt like her eyes were hanging out of her head, maybe they were judging from the looks she was receiving from her fellow Gryffindors.

"You look terrible Lily!" exclaimed Rose as Lily entered the common room.

"Thanks," replied Lily sarcastically, which was something she didn't usually do.

"Sorry," mumbled Rose, before adding in a concerned tone; "Are you ok?"

"Yeah, sorry, I just didn't sleep well last night," replied Lily.

"Not thinking about lover boy?" said Rose slyly with raised eyebrows.

"I had an Astronomy class," replied Lily. It wasn't a lie.

"Oh ok," said Rose a little disappointed but still satisfied with this answer. "Maybe you should've slept in, it is the weekend."

"I wish I could've but I'm supposed to be meeting Mum and Dad in at the Three Broomsticks for lunch," said Lily looking around the common room.

"Lucky you," said Rose sulkily. "I'm stuck in here all day. I've been loaded with homework since we got back from Christmas. A word of advice; don't do your NEWTs."

Lily wasn't really listening anymore, she was scanning the common room for her brother, Albus.

"If you're looking for Albus I think he headed off down to breakfast about ten minutes ago," said Rose noticing Lily's searching gaze.

"Oh, right, thanks," said Lily, a little surprised that Rose had realised what she was doing. "I better get going to, I wanted to get some shopping done before lunch."

X

Once Lily had crept past the doors to the Great Hall where Albus was no doubt stuffing his face, she hurried past Professor Evergreen who was ticking off student names, out the front gates of Hogwarts and straight to the Hogsmeade branch of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes which occupied the old Zonko's Joke Shop building. She peered around and was relieved to find that George hadn't decided to pop in today; the last thing she needed was for him to tell everyone that she'd been into the shop and what she was about to buy.

Lily pulled her cloak down off her head as she entered the shop and took in the sight. Even though she'd been to her uncle's shop hundreds of times she couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the masses of brightly coloured, oddly shaped and strange sounding products that lined the many shelves. They had one of everything and two of everything else. Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes had definitely revolutionised the joke market.

Lily wasn't looking for a tool to use in a practical joke however so she made her way down the aisle that she knew contained the spell checking quills and invisible ink. It only took her a minute to locate what she was looking for.

_Secret Message Parchment_ , she read the label on the outside of a small, flat box; _All you need to pass on those secret messages. Contains two sheets. Price: 1 Galleon, 9 sickles & 3 knuts._

Lily approached the counter after picking up a few other items and put them all out for the salesperson to see.

"That'll be 2 Galleons, 10 Sickles and 5 knuts, today," he said after adding up all of the items.

Lily paid the amount and quickly gathered up her items before hurrying out of the shop. She stashed the secret message paper in her pocket and threw the rest of the items into her bag just as she heard someone calling her name.

"Lily, Lily!" cried Professor Longbottom from across the street, waving.

"Oh, hi Professor," she called back as he approached her.

"Are you going to lunch with your Dad?" he asked.

"Yeah, you?" she replied.

"Yes," he answered and they started up the street towards the Three Broomsticks together.

"How's Hamlet?" Neville asked as they walked.

"He's great," replied Lily smiling, she'd always liked that Neville appreciated her pet toad, no one else seemed to.

"I've been experimenting with a new herb that was only recently discovered," he said enthusiastically. "Toads really love the taste of it and it's remarkably good for their skin."

Lily giggled, she didn't know anyone else who could get so excited about plants or toads or both at the same time.


	18. Overheard

Lily and Neville entered the Three Broomsticks together and scanned the crowded bar.

"There they are," pointed out Neville, noticing Hagrid waving eagerly from across the room.

They made their way over to where two tables had been pushed together to accommodate the group. Hagrid was taking up one full side of one of the tables. Lily's parents, Harry and Ginny, were also seated at the table along with Lily's eldest brother James, and Albus.

"Hello you two," roared Hagrid, evidently he had been here the earliest and had already consumed a number of drinks.

Lily glanced at Hagrid and then grinned at James and Albus who shared the joke. Even Harry was attempting to hide an amused smile.

"Hi Hagrid," replied Neville as he took the seat next to James.

Lily attempted to sit as far from her father as possible but he motioned for her to take the seat opposite him and seeing no way out of it she accepted his invitation.

"How's school going?" asked her mother as Lily got comfortable.

"Great," Lily replied simply.

"Any new teachers this year?" asked Harry trying to catch Lily's gaze.

She skilfully avoided his eyes and the question by calling out to the waiter and ordering a Butterbeer.

Before Harry could ask again James said loudly; "Dad, don't bore her with questions about school! Have you decided to take up Quidditch yet?"

Lily internally thanked James for being such a Quidditch nut. He'd followed in their mother's footsteps, who had played professionally for the Holyhead Harpies, and was attempting to forge a sporting career. At the moment, however, being only one year out of school he was only playing in a reserves team. He had been the Gryffindor seeker at Hogwarts for six of the seven years that he was there and captain of the team for his last three years.

Before Lily could answer James, Harry cut in again.

"So any interesting classes Lily?" he said with feigned innocence.

Seeing that he would not let up Lily replied with enthusiasm; "Oh yeah Care of Magical Creatures is great!"

Harry looked a little disappointed and Lily suspected that it was at himself for giving her a way out.

"Hagrid's really been out doing himself this year," she went on. "Even got a hold of a baby Acromantula to show us."

Harry shot Hagrid a disapproving look but by this time Hagrid was too far gone to notice.

"Oh yeah, that little cutie!" slurred Hagrid loudly.

James and Albus roared with laughter at Hagrid's statement and Lily grinned as the relief swept over her. Hagrid entered into a long rant about all of the creatures that he'd presented to the class this year and no one else could really get a word in. He then continued to pursue Ginny about how Charlie was going with the dragons in Romania.

XXX

After her extended lunch with her family and Neville and Hagrid, Lily made her way back to Hogwarts and headed straight for the dungeons. She knocked hastily on the door of Malfoy's office and let herself in without waiting for an answer. As usual she found him sitting in a chair by the fire, deep in thought. Malfoy seemed a little taken aback by her abrupt entrance but didn't say anything.

"I need to talk to you," she stated looking at him.

"Yes," he said simply allowing her to continue.

"I don't want you to worry or anything," Lily said, she avoided his direct gaze now and struggled to go on.

"What is it?" he asked sharply.

Lily thought she detected a hint of fear in his voice; just what she didn't want.

"It's nothing to worry about," she said trying to delay what she'd hurried there to tell him.

"Lily," he said in tone that was almost teacher-like, something that Lily rarely thought of him as anymore.

Deciding that she could no longer put it off Lily dived head first into her story and immediately regretted it; not nearly as much as she would come to regret it however.

"I think my father is suspicious of us," she said it quickly and then continued with; "But I'm not entirely sure, I mean he just asked me a few questions that seemed well odd but that could mean something else. And I might've mentioned something about my Patronus and maybe he saw you wink at me the other day... I wanted to warn you just as a precaution but don't worry, maybe just..." she trailed off at the sight of him.

What little colour was in his face had completely drained as she'd been speaking. His eyes were wide and one of his hands was grasping his forehead. He looked like he was about to faint.

"Are you ok?" Lily asked watching him.

His eyes weren't looking at her however; they were glued to a spot on the ground behind her and slightly to the left. Lily followed his eye line and felt the colour drain from her own face as she saw what he was looking at. She felt as though her whole body had been paralysed. There, sitting on the floor of Malfoy's office and trailing off underneath the door and out of sight was a thin flesh coloured piece of cord which she recognised immediately as an Extendable Ear from her uncle's shop.

Before she could turn back to Malfoy he had brushed past her and was at the door. She could hear running footsteps getting fainter on the other side. He put out his hand and reefed it open. Lily flinched and waited for him to return which he did only a moment later. The look on his face was a mixture of anger and fear.

Lily wanted to ask who it was but she couldn't even speak. She didn't need to say anything because he answered her anyway.

"That was your brother, Albus."


	19. An Unlikely Hero

Malfoy was pacing back and forth in his office looking exceedingly distressed. His usually slicked back hair was falling in messy strings around his face and he looked like his mind was going a million miles a second. He kept throwing anxious glances at the door.

"What are we going to do?" said Lily finally regaining her movement and speech.

"I don't know..." he trailed off.

Lily suddenly remembered the other reason she'd come there. She pulled the pack of _Secret Message Parchment_ from her pocket.

"I think I should get out of here," she said as her mind started to work again. She ripped the packaging from around the parchment and pulled one piece out.

"Take this," she said handing it to Malfoy. "We can use it to keep in touch. I don't think we should be seen together. I'll get to Albus before he gets to my father, I'll tell him to keep quiet."

Malfoy was listening intently to her; "But what will you say?" he asked.

"I'll think of something," she said to him as she reached the door and looked back at him.

He managed a small smile and crossed the room closing the gap between them. He kissed her quickly on the lips and then stared at her for a moment. The pain in his eyes was almost too much for her to bear.

"Be safe," he told her and she couldn't help but sense a note of finality in his words.

X

When Lily emerged from the dungeons only a minute later she didn't have to look far to find Albus.

"What do you think you're doing?" he bellowed startling her so much that she jumped back and ran into a suit of armour which clanged loudly drawing unwanted attention from a bunch of students nearby.

"You almost gave me a heart attack!" cried Lily as she steadied herself and glared at her brother.

"Gave _you_ a heart attack?" Albus exclaimed. "You can imagine my shock when I heard you two!"

"Keep your voice down," hissed Lily grabbing his arm and dragging him down a corridor and out of view of the students who had stopped what they were doing and were listening intently to the siblings squabbling.

Thankfully, Albus decided to use some discretion and lowered his voice.

"What were you doing in Malfoy's office?" he demanded.

"I thought you would've known considering you were eavesdropping," she said coolly.

Albus opened his mouth, closed it again and then opened it again but said nothing.

"Did Dad send you?" Lily asked angrily before Albus could say anything.

"That's not the point," said Albus weakly. Lily had always had an uncanny ability to trip her brothers up whenever they confronted her; even when she was clearly in the wrong.

"I can't believe this," muttered Lily.

"Neither can I," stated Albus. He was strangely calm about the whole situation now which, although favourable to Lily's situation, did cause her to worry about him.

"Are you going to tell him?" she asked plainly.

"Tell him what?" asked Albus and Lily realised that maybe her brother hadn't heard as much as she first feared he had.

"That I have detention," she invented suddenly.

"Detention?" asked Albus incredulously.

"Yeah, what else?" Lily asked testing him and eagerly awaiting his response.

"Lily," he said with a sigh. "I know you don't have detention with Malfoy. I know what you were doing in his office. I know about you two."

Lily eyed her brother suspiciously. Why was he so calm about this? Something wasn't right but she couldn't figure out what it was. As she pondered the strange behaviour of her brother she caught a glimpse of green and silver out of the corner of her eye and turned quickly on the spot just in time to see a tall figure in Slytherin Quidditch robes disappearing around a corner. Leaving her brother without an explanation she followed the mysterious person. She'd just rounded the corner when she came face to face with...Scorpius Malfoy, who had his wand out and an intent look on his face. They looked at one another for a moment before he chuckled.

"Well, well if it isn't Lily Potter," he said smirking.

Lily frowned and then looked over her shoulder at Albus who was still standing in the same position with a glazed look on his face. She turned back to Scorpius and looking at his wand finally realised what was going on.

Her eyes narrowed on the boy who resembled his father so much and said cautiously; "The Imperius Curse."

"Well done, you are a bright one," he mocked.

"Stop it!" she said angrily although still a little wary.

"I'm trying to help you," he shot back, no longer smiling.

"Help me?" asked Lily. "By using an unforgivable curse on my brother?"

"By stopping him running off and telling daddy on you," he said. "But if you'd prefer to just let things run their course." He made a movement as if to release the curse.

"Wait," said Lily biting her lip. What was she doing? How could she allow this to happen to her brother to save her own skin?

Scorpius smiled again; "You surprise me Potter. I didn't think you had it in you."

"I don't," said Lily weakly. "I just..."

Scorpius waited for her excuse but she said nothing. He stepped around her and, controlling Albus, made him approach them.

"What're you doing?" asked Lily, ashamed that she felt a little intrigued by Scorpius Malfoy.

"I told you I'm helping you," he said as Albus finally reached them. "Obliviate!"

He'd acted before Lily knew what was happening. He'd cast the memory charm only a second after he'd finished his previous sentence.

"What? No!" cried Lily as the panic rose within her.

"Calm down," said Scorpius. "He'll be fine, I know what I'm doing. I'm just erasing his memory of what he overheard you and..." He trailed of and did not speak his father's name.

Lily looked down at the ground and felt her face redden. She was talking to Malfoy's son, who clearly had somehow found out about her and his father. She suddenly felt very awkward.

Neither of them said anything for a moment while the memory charm did its work. Once Scorpius was happy with the result he marched Albus back out of the corridor they were hiding in and released him from the Imperius Curse. He then grabbed Lily's arm roughly and steered her into a nearby classroom, shutting the door behind them.

"You could go to Azkaban for that," she said in an attempt to sound like she had something that she could hold over him.

He smirked and chuckled again. Lily was surprised at how much he looked like his father yet how much he seemed to repulse her.

"But who will ever know?" he questioned her.

She watched him for a moment; trying to figure out his motive.

"How'd you learn that?" she asked. Yes, he repulsed her but he also intrigued her to almost an unbearable extent.

"My father didn't lose the tricks he learnt from the Death Eaters just because he's… how does he put it? ...Reformed," said Scorpius with an air of amusement.

Lily didn't say anything. Malfoy had taught Scorpius how to perform an unforgivable curse? If he'd done that, what else had he taught him? What else were they both capable of?

"Anyway, let's move forward, shall we?" said Scorpius pulling Lily from her thoughts.

"What?" she questioned.

"I know about you and my father," he explained conversationally and again Lily felt herself blush. "It's not really important to me. He can do what he likes. But I know that it may cause unwanted attention for my family and I don't particularly want anyone else finding out."

"So..." said Lily trying to catch up. She still had no idea how to take Scorpius; this wasn't at all how she expected him to react.

He let out a sigh of irritation and said; "Soooo..." he dragged the word out. "I'll agree to keep this a secret as long as you do something for me."

"Oh," said Lily still extremely confused by everything. "What?"

"I don't know yet but I'm sure I'll think of something," Scorpius said as he considered the deal.

"Oh ok, well... thank you," she said awkwardly.

"You're welcome," he said with another smirk.

His gaze was becoming quite unnerving and Lily was just beginning to wish he'd leave when he spoke again.

"I'll see you around, and remember mum's the word or in this case dad," he laughed and went to the door, exiting without so much as a backwards glance.

Lily stood there staring after him, her mind still trying unsuccessfully to process the events that had taken place since her departure from the Three Broomsticks.

With nothing else to do Lily extracted her piece of message parchment from her pocket and grabbing a spare quill from the teacher's desk scribbled on it; _Albus is taken care of_. She hesitated for a moment considering whether or not she should inform Malfoy about his son's knowledge. At length she decided against it and pulling out her wand she tapped the parchment three times and watched the words disappear as though they were being absorbed by the paper.

After a couple of minutes the unmistakable handwriting of her Potions Professor appeared and she read two words; _Thank you_.

Satisfied with this outcome Lily returned the parchment to her pocket and exited the classroom.


	20. Kindred Spirits

Lily was in Herbology but, despite Professor Longbottom's enthusiasm, was not really listening to the lesson. She was still thinking about the lunch she'd had at the Three Broomsticks a couple of weeks ago with her parents. Her father's relentless attempts to question her about her classes, undoubtedly trying to find out what the connection between her and Malfoy was, were still haunting her. Although it hadn't been confirmed she was certain that it was him who had sent Albus with the Extendable Ear. This train of thought brought her to Scorpius and his curious reaction to finding out that she was _involved_ with his father. She figured that like his father there was a lot more to it than he had revealed and this only made her more anxious. He seemed very unpredictable and she was worried that he might have a change of heart and decide that he no longer wanted to keep the secret. Since the day she had spoken to him she had only seen him a few times in the corridors between classes, always seeming to spot her before she saw him and always with a creepy smirk on his face. His request for repayment for keeping his mouth shut was also causing her distress; what could she possibly have, or do, that would interest him?

The bell sounded for lunch and brought Lily out of her reverie. It also reminded her of her other mission.

"Professor, I, uh, I need your help," said Lily awkwardly to Neville as the rest of the class left the greenhouse.

"What is it Lily?" he asked with a curious look.

"Well, I've," she said, pausing. "I've lost my toad."

Neville looked down at her and smiled; "I know how that feels," he laughed. "Do you want me to help you find him?"

"Oh, yes please," she said.

"Where did you last see him?" asked Neville thoughtfully.

"I don't know," she admitted. "I think he may have hopped off somewhere in the night because I remember having him a couple of nights ago while I was studying and I don't think I've actually seen him since then." She didn't want to admit that when she said studying she actually meant fooling around with Malfoy but was surprised at how the comment just seemed to roll off her tongue.

"Hmm," Neville pondered this for a moment. "Well maybe Hagrid's seen him, let's go and ask him. He always seems to have some creature or other boarding at his place."

"Ok," smiled Lily, although she was still a little ashamed that she had managed to lose her pet. "Maybe you could bring some of that new herb you were telling me about, you know, to lure him out in case he's hiding somewhere."

"That's a brilliant idea," replied Neville retreating to his office to collect it.


	21. Scorpius' Request

Lily was once again dawdling down the corridor in a state of deep thought. Once again going over everything in her head. She was undoubtedly late for her class by now but this sort of thing had become less and less important to her.

Suddenly she felt someone grab her arm. Before she knew what was happening they had pulled her into a broom cupboard and closed the door again. She was now standing with her back up against the door, a tall figure looming over her.

She looked up and relaxed for a moment before tensing up again. She was looking up into the smirking face of Scorpius and for a split second she had thought it was Draco. He extended his arm and rested his hand on the door behind her still piercing her with his gaze. She couldn't help but be reminded of the day she had been in a similar position except with his father. This made her think again how much alike the two seemed but also noted that while her heart beat quickened it was a different feeling; an adrenaline fuelled fear rather than a pleasant exhilaration.

"I've thought of what I need from you," he stated watching her carefully.

She looked away and whispered her reply which was barely audible; "What?"

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" he asked.

"No," she spoke louder but still rather quietly and forced herself to look at him again.

He watched her for another moment and was no longer smiling.

"What do you want from me?" Lily asked in an attempt to hurry him along so she could leave.

"I want you to borrow something for me from my father...and something from yours," he said.

"Mine?" she asked, her curiosity suddenly ignited.

"Yes and mine," he said. "I want you to take my father's Hand of Glory from his room and bring it to me."

"I can't steal from him," she said immediately.

"I only want to borrow it," said Scorpius defensively. "I'll give it back."

Lily was surprised at the indignation in his voice. Why did he care that she thought he was capable of stealing?

"I'll only need it for a short time and then you can return it. I know he keeps it in his room and he probably won't even notice it's gone," Scorpius reasoned when Lily made no reply.

"What do you need it for?" she finally asked, unable to help herself.

"I can't tell you that," he said plainly but the smirk reappeared on his face.

"Well what do you need from my father?" Lily questioned.

"His invisibility cloak. I know he has one, my father told me," Scorpius said as though he had anticipated Lily's response to his answer.

"I can't," said Lily after a moment of pause.

"Then we'll do this the hard way," he said and for the first time Lily sensed a hint of anger in his tone.

"You can't tell..." Lily started but Scorpius cut in.

"I want that Hand of Glory and that cloak, I won't tell your secret but I will do whatever it takes to get them," he said dangerously pulling his wand out. "You know what I am capable of."

Lily eyed his wand and knew exactly what he was talking about.

"You wouldn't," she said not believing her own words.

"Not if I don't have to," he replied. "But if you won't willingly do it, I will make you."

Lily didn't doubt it. Of the three unforgivable curses the Imperius curse had always scared her the most. The thought of someone else controlling her like a puppet was far more terrifying than torture or even death.

"So do we have an understanding?" asked Scorpius after a long silence in which Lily frantically assessed her options.

"Ok, I'll do it," she replied reluctantly.

"Very good," said Scorpius grinning. "I knew I could count on you Lily."

His words almost made her sick. She didn't want to do this but she didn't have a choice, did she?

Scorpius had his hand on the door handle now and was waiting for her to move so he could open it. She stepped aside and he did so. He was just about to leave when Lily suddenly stopped him.

"Don't tell anyone," she said looking him straight in the eye.

"Of course not," he returned. "This will be our little secret."

She let him go and waited a minute before following him out of the cupboard. Little did she know that another pair of grey eyes was watching her.


	22. A Potter and The Malfoys

Lily was finding it harder and harder to concentrate on her lessons. Between her father's suspicions and Scorpius' request for her to obtain the Hand of Glory and the Invisibility Cloak she was becoming a nervous wreck. To make matters worse Malfoy had suddenly become very cold towards her and was distancing himself from her which she assumed had something to do with the Extendable Ear incident. All this was plaguing her every thought and to top it off she still had not located her pet toad, Hamlet.

She was finding that the only comfort she had was the company of her new Patronus however even that was becoming harder and harder to muster happy thoughts to conjure it.

In a last attempt to prevent herself from falling into a state of depression she resumed her regular visits to Hagrid's hut. Even this couldn't bring total enjoyment to her because she felt so guilty for not having visited him as often as she should have.

As it was still only February the squid had not yet been released into the lake but Hagrid had expressed his concerns about them being too little to release in a month's time.

"But they've over doubled their size in just two months," Lily observed after Hagrid had voiced his apprehension about their release.

They were observing the beautiful creatures as they swam hypnotically backwards and forwards in a large trough which Hagrid had relocated them to. Their long tentacles breached the surface every now and again causing the water to ripple which subsequently caused a beautiful array of colours to reflect onto the observer's faces, dancing in the weak sunlight.

"I know but I'm gettin' rather attached to 'em," admitted Hagrid.

Lily didn't argue any further, she herself didn't truly want to see them go but she knew they'd be better off in the lake rather than cooped up in a trough that they were becoming dangerously close to out growing.

"How've yer been anyway Lily?" asked Hagrid with a quick sidelong glance at her.

"I'm fine," she replied not looking at him but keeping her eyes glued to the squid in front of her.

"Are yer really?" Hagrid asked before adding; "Because yer've been a bit distant lately."

"Sorry," replied Lily guiltily. "I've just been so busy, you know, with my OWLs coming up." She still couldn't look at him lest her face gave her lies away.

"I wasn't lookin' fer an apology," Hagrid reassured. "I'm just worried about yer. So's yer mum and dad."

Lily realised then that Hagrid had not come up with these questions completely alone. Her father now had him trying to extract information from her. Did he really think that she would divulge her secrets to Hagrid? Or was this one last attempt to go about it in a covert way before going in as the muggles would say guns blazing? She feared that her latter thought was the most likely.

She finally turned to Hagrid, her friend, her constant and forever faithful friend. She looked him in the eye.

"You don't have to worry about me Hagrid," she said sincerely. "I'll be alright."

"That's good to hear," he smiled back.

At that time the clock struck indicating that it was six o'clock.

"Blimey, it's gettin' dark," said Hagrid. "We better get yer back up ter the castle."

So they left the squid which were still glowing brightly and retreated to the castle together, Hagrid smiling and humming as they went and Lily fighting the growing feeling of unease within her.

She managed a smile when they parted ways at the entrance and watched him disappear back into the darkness that had quite suddenly consumed the grounds of Hogwarts. She could hear his heavy footfall long after she could no longer see him.

Not for the first time she turned her back on the doors to the Great Hall and headed for the dungeons.

When Lily arrived at Malfoy's door she stood there for a moment before knocking; she didn't know if she could take him, giving her the cold shoulder again, not after the day she'd had.

"Who is it?" his voice called from within.

"Lily," she whispered.

She knew he wouldn't have heard her and she was just about to say it louder when the door opened.

"Come in," he said in a purposefully bored tone before turning his back on her and retreating back into the dimly lit office.

Lily hung her head and followed, not even really knowing why she was bothering.

"What is it?" he asked in almost a cold tone.

Lily looked up into his eyes and watched as his gaze softened under hers. He said nothing.

"What's the matter?" Lily asked him.

"Nothing, what do you mean?" he replied, looking away.

"You've been acting weird all week," she supplied.

He stared at the wall for a moment as though deciding whether he should tell her or not and then looked down at her.

"What were you doing with Scorpius?" he said suddenly, a hint of jealously in his tone.

"Scorpius?" Lily questioned. "What do you mean _with him_?"

"I saw you both," said Malfoy and this time his voice really was cold. "Coming out of a broom cupboard."

Lily's mouth hung open. Was he jealous of his son?

"Well?" he demanded.

"Nothing!" said Lily raising her voice. "I wasn't doing anything with him."

Malfoy huffed and crossed his arms in a very immature manner.

"Actually now that you ask he was informing me of the fact that he knows about us," she said, ommiting the true content of their conversation.

"What?" said Malfoy sharply as the coldness disappeared from his voice and the sneer from his face.

"He knows," repeated Lily quietly.

Malfoy's eyes narrowed as he processed the thought.

"He seems ok with it," said Lily to eliminate the sudden silence that was crushing in on her.

"Does he?" asked Malfoy, thinking this over.

"Yeah, well he said he wouldn't tell anyone," said Lily.

Malfoy glanced at her and then began pacing the small office.

Lily watched him, she couldn't help but think that he was kind of cute when he worried like this. The ridiculous timing of her thought astonished her.

"What exactly did he say?" asked Malfoy ceasing his movement.

"Um, I don't remember the exact words," said Lily trying not to reveal the deal that she'd struck with him. "Just that he didn't care and that you could do what you like."

"I think I should talk you him," stated Malfoy looking at Lily for reassurance.

"Are you sure you want to do that?" asked Lily, surprised by the boldness of this decision.

"Don't you think I should?" he asked.

"It's not that I think you shouldn't," she replied. "I'm just surprised that you want to."

"I think I should," he repeated.

"Sure, go ahead," obliged Lily. "I think you should too. You know him better than me; maybe you'll be able to figure out if he really is OK with it."

Malfoy nodded; his mind still ticking over his thoughts rapidly.

"I'll go now," he said abruptly and before Lily could utter another word he had disappeared out the door.

She stood there for a moment taking in what had just happened. It made her a little anxious that Malfoy had wasted no time in getting to Scorpius to 'talk'. He knew far more than he had told her.

Before she could ponder this anymore a sudden thought struck her; she was alone in Malfoy's office and he had left in a hurry. She quickly darted over to the door that led to his bedroom and, hoping with all her might that he had neglected to lock the door in his haste, grabbed the handle. After a short pause she turned it, still willing it to be unlocked and sighed with relief as it opened.

Casting one quick look over her shoulder she swiftly entered the room and closed the door behind her. It was the same as usual; scarce and cold. She gave it one sweeping look before making her way over to the cabinet that harboured the suspiciously Dark-looking objects.

Lily was surprised to see the Hand of Glory displayed on one of the visible shelves. Why had she never, despite her curiosity, taken much notice of the individual artefacts in this cabinet? Dismissing the useless thought she reached up and opened the glass door. Its hinges creaked loudly from infrequent use. She reached out and let her hand hover over the dead looking one which clutched a small waxy candle, before finally touching it. It felt as awful as it looked and she hastily withdrew it and tucked it into the inside of her robes. She didn't know if it was the fact that she was stealing from Malfoy or the feeling of the grotesque hand against her side but she knew she didn't like it, not at all.

She was about to shut the door of the cabinet when she realised just how obvious the gap it left was. She reluctantly pulled the Hand back out.

"Geminio," she said, creating a perfect duplicate which she placed back in the cabinet before closing the door.

She returned the real Hand of Glory to its hiding place in her robes and started heading towards the door. She had no idea how long Malfoy would be occupied with Scorpius and was eager to get rid of the ghastly Hand but she stopped when she'd almost made it to the exit. Something had caught her eye.

It was a small object but one that Lily sensed carried a much larger meaning. A silver photo frame with a moving picture inside; a picture of a beautiful woman. Lily picked it up off the table; she had never seen it there before.

She looked at the woman in the photo, who smiled and laughed, her blue eyes sparkling in the apparent sunlight. Her black hair was long and straight and appeared to sway in a gentle breeze. The face sparked a faint memory at the back of Lily's mind; she was taken back to a time when she had stood on Platform Nine and Three Quarters with her parents. It was Albus' first year at Hogwarts. Two familiar faces had stood a distance from her own family, both with grey eyes and white blonde hair. The woman in the photograph was with them. This was Astoria Malfoy.

Lily's heart rate quickened at her realisation but it wasn't the pleasant quick-paced rhythm that accompanied contact with Draco; it was the dreading, frantic, almost-panicked beat that accompanied a look from Scorpius.

Lily hastily returned the frame to its former place and exited the room. Malfoy still wasn't back. Should she wait for him? She glanced at her watch and realised that it was getting late. If she lingered any longer she'd be caught out of bed after hours or at least that was her excuse for not wanting to face Malfoy. So she left the office taking the Hand of Glory with her. The dungeon corridors were very dark now so she pulled it out and held it in front of her. An eerie glow emanated from it lighting the surrounding area and casting long shadows on the walls. She stared at it in amazement for a few moments. Was it true that only she could see this light?

A tall figure came into view at the far end of the corridor. Lily slipped in behind a nearby statue and held the hand high to cast light on the person's face; it was Scorpius... returning before Malfoy. Had his father found him? If so, why was Scorpius back to the dungeons first?

"Lumos," Scorpius muttered igniting his wand tip.

Lily glanced up and down the corridor; there was no one else around. She took out her own wand and lit it as she approached Scorpius.

He turned around in surprise and seemed to relax slightly at the sight of her.

"Potter," he said as his eyes came to rest on the Hand of Glory which she still clutched. "You work fast."

Lily didn't like the look of delight upon his face. He reached out to take it from her and reluctantly she handed it over.

"I don't see why you couldn't have taken it yourself if you wanted it so much," she said as the light faded and only the two wands glowed.

"Extraordinary," said Scorpius ignoring her comment. "You can't see this?"

"No," she said a little resentfully.

"I'm not your enemy, Potter," he said still examining the hand.

Lily didn't know how to respond. She suddenly felt very guilty for the way she disliked him. But did she dislike him? She couldn't even tell anymore.

"You'd better hide it," she said to avoid the subject he'd brought up. "We don't want to get caught. I have to go now."

With that she turned and started walking quickly up the corridor.

"What about the Invisibility Cloak?" he called after her.

She stopped with her back still to him.

He waited.

She started walking again. It was one thing to steal the Hand from Malfoy but could she steal one of her own father's most prized possessions?

"Remember our deal," Scorpius called before retreating in the opposite direction.

When Lily returned to her dormitory in Gryffindor Tower she was relieved to find that the other occupants were still in the common room. She knelt down beside her bed and pulled her trunk out from under it. She looked at the gold initials L.P. on the top and imagined the P turning into a M. She then opened it with both hands and looked at the contents; school robes, socks, broken quills, toad treats, a chess set and various other items were visible in the chaos. She dug down into the bottom and withdrew a large box which she held in her hands for a long moment before finally opening. Inside was a strange looking piece of woven material which resembled silk but had an almost transparent look about it and several bundles of silky hair. Lily reached in and touched it and let out a sigh. This was her Invisibility Cloak; the one that she had been hand weaving for the last three years. It was almost done, only the occurrence of her OWLs and the arrival of a certain potions master had paused its completion. Why hadn't she just finished it off? Was it because she no longer yearned to be invisible as she once had or was it because she didn't want the fun of creating it to finish? She didn't know but none of it mattered now because she knew what she had to do. What she had to do to protect Malfoy, her father, and herself. She had to complete the task that had taken her years to undertake and she had to give the cloak to Scorpius in place of her father's one and hope that he wouldn't know the difference.

She smiled bitterly as she held her achievement in her hands; all that hard work. She stood up holding the cloak and spread it out on her bed; a few loose threads stuck out here and there and she took out her wand to tidy them up. She then took one of the bundles of Demiguise hair and unravelling a few strands recommenced her work; it would be done by morning and then she'd hand it over to Scorpius Malfoy. What he would do with both it and the Hand of Glory, which he now already possessed, she didn't know and she kept telling herself not to worry about it until she was able to shed herself of all responsibility.


	23. Birthday Wishes

Lily had bundled her now complete Invisibility Cloak into a small package surrounded by brown paper and tied with string. It was in her bag and although she had not stolen this the usually lightweight item now felt heavy as though it was another stolen piece of property.

She felt ashamed that her reluctance to give Scorpius her cloak was greater than it had been for giving him his father's Hand of Glory. Once again she told herself that she'd done it to protect Malfoy.

She was walking down the marble staircase in the Entrance Hall on her way to give the cloak to Scorpius when she saw him standing at the bottom of them, waiting for her. She frowned, how had he known that she would be coming now?

"Morning Potter," he said when she stopped on the last step.

"Hi," she said watching him, still wondering how he knew what she was doing.

"You have the cloak?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied. "But can we do this somewhere else?"

"You're not ashamed of me are you?" he asked grinning.

"Oh shut up and come on," said Lily irritably brushing past him and heading towards a more secluded area. She was growing tired of his constant amusement at her expense.

She dumped her bag on the stone floor and began to rummage through it. Finally locating the parcel containing her Invisibility Cloak she pulled it out and straightened.

She shivered involuntarily when Scorpius' eyes lit up at the sight of it. He once again reached out to take it before she offered but she gave it to him all the same, glancing over her shoulder as she did so.

"No need to be so nervous," said Scorpius noticing Lily's behaviour. "You've wrapped it so nicely people will just think that you're giving me a gift."

She looked at him incredulously. This was even farfetched for him.

"It is my birthday after all," he added smirking and throwing her a sideways glance.

"What?" said Lily taken aback. "Your birthday?"

"Yes," confirmed Scorpius. "My eighteenth birthday."

Lily looked at him. Why was he telling her this? Did he want her to wish him a happy one?

A few people passed them and a sixth year Slytherin girl called out; "Happy Birthday" to him before shooting Lily a seething glare.

Lily blinked. It really was his birthday. She turned back to him.

"Happy birthday," she said awkwardly.

"Thank you," beamed Scorpius and for once she didn't hear sarcasm in his tone.

"Will you hide that," Lily hissed, a little angry although she didn't know why.

Scorpius tucked the cloak into his own bag and held out his hand.

Lily eyed it for a moment as though she thought it might've been poisoned. He did not lower it so she took it and shook his hand.

"Pleasure doing business with you," he said pulling her closer to him.

Lily went a little rigid, wondering why he had done that.

"How did you get this from your father so quickly?" he whispered dangerously.

"Al- Albus had it," she said uncertainly but rather quickly. It was as though she had been preparing the lie without realising it.

Scorpius frowned and studied her face for a moment; trying to find the lie in her eyes.

Lily's eyes were watering now as she stared back into his face knowing that he'd be able to tell for sure that she wasn't telling the truth.

At length, however, he seemed happy with her answer and let her go; turning his back on her he retreated to the dungeons.

Lily let out a breath that she didn't even know she'd been holding. Her stomach grumbled loudly and she suddenly realised that she was hungry so she made her way to the Great Hall for breakfast.

She found Rose who was eating a bowl of cereal distractedly while pouring over a book. She didn't have long before she'd be sitting her NEWT exams and had taken to reading her text books at every chance she got.

"Hi Rose," said Lily as she sat down opposite her cousin.

Rose grunted an incomprehensible reply and didn't look up from her reading.

Lily thought this a little strange but went about helping herself to some bacon and eggs anyway. She was half way through her breakfast before Rose finally pulled her eyes from the book and looked across the table at her. Rose's expression was serious. Lily ventured a smile but it wasn't returned.

"What's with you and Malfoy?" Rose asked directly.

Lily choked on her bacon and started spluttering like mad. Rose pushed a glass of pumpkin juice in Lily's direction and continued to glare at her.

Lily took a large swig of the juice and after a few more coughs and splutters managed to regain her composure.

"Well, what're you playing at?" demanded Rose.

"What?" asked Lily timidly. Her mind was racing. How had Rose found out about Malfoy? How much did she know? Had she told anyone?

"You know what," said Rose. "I knew you were in love Lily but I never dreamed it'd be with _him_. What do you think you're doing?"

"I...," began Lily but she couldn't think of a single explanation.

"I mean really Lily how could you sink to the level of Scorpius Malfoy?" Rose's aggressiveness seemed to have subsided and now she was just disappointed.

"Scorpius..." said Lily as relief swept over her. It only lasted for a moment though before panic reclaimed her .

So Rose didn't know about Malfoy but she thought that Lily was seeing Scorpius. For some reason this seemed worse.

"I'm not in love with Scorpius," said Lily finally.

"Don't lie to me," said Rose, burring up again. "I saw you two go into that broom cupboard the other day and he came out looking rather pleased with himself and then I saw you just now getting a little too cosy by the door to the dungeons."

Lily just stared at Rose in shock. First Malfoy and now Rose, how many others had been watching her and Scorpius's interactions?

"That's not what it looked like," said Lily reflecting on how it must have seemed to an outsider.

"Really?" huffed Rose. "Well what was it then?"

Lily could not say what it really was; she couldn't tell Rose about Malfoy. If she'd gotten this upset at the thought of Lily with Scorpius how would she react to the revelation that it was actually his father?

"That's what I thought," said Rose, bitterly triumphant, when Lily supplied no answer.

"I...it was," started Lily but she didn't go on.

Rose glared at her cousin and got up from the table leaving Lily behind with, once again, no appetite whatsoever.


	24. Hungry Hungry Hippogriffs

Malfoy had not been himself since he'd spoken to Scorpius. What exactly had passed between the two of them, Lily still didn't know. It wasn't that Malfoy was angry or worried; she didn't know what it was but he seemed different.

She knew that he was there before she heard the small cough that he issued to announce his arrival. She could sense his presence now. She turned around and saw him standing quite a distance from her. He looked like the lone figure he was standing in the grounds of Hogwarts with his robes swaying in the gentle breeze. She waved before she thought and he shot her a look of annoyance before turning away from her.

She gave the Hippogriff she'd been feeding the last of the dead rats and washed her hands in a bucket of water. Wiping her hands on her robes to dry them, she approached Malfoy and looked up into his face. She was relieved to see that he returned her gaze and even offered a smile.

"Why didn't you come over?" she asked looking back at the three Hippogriffs enclosed in a small yard not far from Hagrid's hut.

"I didn't want to get too close," he muttered looking a little annoyed again.

"Sorry," mumbled Lily as they began to walk unconsciously towards the lake although she didn't really know what she was apologising for.

Malfoy had been acting quite weird lately and Lily couldn't figure out what it was. She didn't think it was about Scorpius. Did he know that she'd been in his bedroom? And that she'd taken his Hand of Glory? Or did he know that she'd seen the photo of Astoria?

"So what's the excuse this time, do I have detention?" asked Lily grinning, trying to ease the tension.

Malfoy couldn't help but smirk. While this was comforting, Lily still noticed that he had momentarily attempted to hold his stony expression.

"Are you ok about Scorpius?" asked Malfoy suddenly.

Lily stopped and gaped at him. Did he really just ask her about his son?

Malfoy continued to walk but stopped when he realised that she was no longer in step with him.

"I just mean..." he began but was cut off as Lily suddenly threw herself at him, putting both her arms around him and clinging on tight.

She realised what she'd done a little too late, Malfoy was already trying to prise her from him when she let go.

"Are you mad?" he hissed, patting down his dishevelled robes into some sense of order.

"Sorry," Lily said as she looked up at him. "It's just nice to know you care."

He glanced around them and finding no one else in sight, looked back at her smiling.

They resumed their walk, which, to Lily now felt like it was taking place in the clouds.

x

They had passed the lake and were back to the Hippogriff pen by the time the sun was beginning to set. Malfoy hesitated as they neared the large, beaked creatures whose fierce eyes watched the two smaller beings carefully.

"What's the matter?" asked Lily, frowning.

"N-nothing," replied Malfoy a little unsteadily.

"Then why'd you stop walking?" she asked, still unable to figure out why he was acting this way.

"Can't we go this way?" Malfoy asked avoiding her questions and gesturing a path in the opposite direction.

"Are you afraid of them?" enquired Lily, finally realising what was stopping him. She could see it in his eyes now.

"No," he said defensively. "I just don't..." but he didn't seem to have any other explanation.

Lily approached the nearest of the Hippogriffs. It was a small female one with golden feathers and pale blue eyes. She noticed Malfoy flinch as it snapped its beak impatiently for another dead rodent.

Lily's bright blue eyes connected with the creatures paler ones and she bowed low. After a short pause the Hippogriff returned the bow and continued to snap its beak while eyeing the empty bucket which had held food earlier.

"You couldn't possibly still be hungry," said Lily as she reached up to pat the shiny beak.

Malfoy let out a strange noise and Lily turned to see him, paler than usual, watching them anxiously.

"Come over here," she called to him but he didn't budge.

She turned back to the Hippogriff and said quietly; "Behave."

She then went over to where Malfoy stood and took his hand. This time he did not fight her off but held her hand tightly as she led him back to the fence where the golden Hippogriff still stood, now quietly awaiting them.

"Look her in the eye," said Lily quietly as Malfoy's terrified grey eyes darted up to look the great beast in the face.

Lily smiled to herself.

"Now bow," she said and they both bent their knees in a low bow.

Once again the Hippogriff bowed, almost lazily this time.

"Great," encouraged Lily, beaming as a small, uncertain smile formed on Malfoy's face.

"You can touch her now if you want," said Lily hopefully.

"No thanks, not just yet," said Malfoy. "I think I'd rather just look at them."

"That's fine," said Lily although she was a little disappointed.

"You have a way with them," commented Malfoy and Lily's chest swelled with pride and joy.

"They're very gentle creatures, once you get to know them," she said ruffling the feathers on the neck.

She glanced at Malfoy to find him looking at her rather than the creature that she could tell he was still slightly wary of. She offered him a smile and he returned it with one of his own.

Lily knew at that moment, without a doubt, that she was indeed in love with Draco Malfoy. Nothing could convince her otherwise anymore. She loved him like she had never loved anyone before in her life and it didn't matter what he'd done or who he'd been because she loved him unconditionally. She also knew that when he stood beside her and put his arm around her without hesitation this time that even if he didn't love her as much as she loved him, he still cared, cared a lot more than any teacher should and for now that was enough.


	25. Secret Revealed

It was another late night at the library for Lily who was getting more and more behind with her school work as the OWLs got closer and closer. She had had a lot of other things on her mind this year and was quite alarmed to realise that not only had her grades been slipping but it was only a few short months until she would be sitting her exams. There was still time to catch up on her abandoned work and still time to redeem herself but it did require a lot of library time and late night studying.

She had just finished a rather lengthy History of Magic essay that was due the following day when she heard a strange sound a couple of shelves over. She picked up her wand and lit it as she approached the source of the noise. A couple of fellow fifth years and a few seventh year students who were also staying as late as possible in the library did not look up as she came to a halt at the entry to the Restricted Section. Lily was sure that there was someone in there and once again her curiosity got the better of her. Glancing over her shoulder to ensure no one was watching her she extinguished her wand light and silently crept over the threshold into the dimly lit and apparently disserted section of the library which housed books of darker content.

She suddenly wished she hadn't been so hasty in handing her Invisibility Cloak over to Scorpius but continued to walk quietly along the rows of book searching for the person that she knew must be there. She was just starting to question her sanity when she saw it; a disembodied hand reached for a book and withdrew it from the shelf. A moment later both the hand and the book disappeared.

Lily had a feeling she knew who it was and began to walk towards the invisible figure.

"A little late night reading?" she asked a little smugly and pleased with herself for being the one doing the taunting for once.

"I suggest you leave Potter," said Scorpius' voice from directly in front of Lily.

"Why? What are you up to?" she asked, now feeling a bit stupid for standing there talking to nothing. "Take the cloak off."

She heard an irritated sigh and then Scorpius appeared pulling the shiny transparent cloak from himself.

"We'll get caught," he said, glancing past her in the direction she'd came from.

"Doing what?" asked Lily quickly still dying to know what Scorpius had wanted the cloak for. Obviously it was to sneak into the Restricted Section but why not just obtain a permission slip? He was clearly up to something. What was it?

He didn't answer and Lily noticed that he was still hiding something in his hands underneath the Invisibility Cloak.

She stood there for a moment and then, as quick as lightning, snatched the cloak from Scorpius to reveal the book he was holding. He grabbed at the cloak but it was too late, she had it and was holding it well out of his reach. He quickly hid the book behind his back looking thoroughly annoyed with her now.

"What's that?" she demanded, a little loudly.

"Shut up, it's nothing," hissed Scorpius. "Nothing to do with you."

Lily felt a little hurt by his tone; there was more than mere annoyance in it now.

"You said we weren't enemies," said Lily, lowering her voice. "You're sure acting like we are now."

"Well I may have said that," returned Scorpius coolly. "But I never said we were friends either!"

Lily didn't know what to say. His comment had taken her by surprise. Did she think they were friends? No. Then why did his words seem to paralyse her?

"It's none of your business," said Scorpius snatching the cloak back and pulling it over himself.

Lily heard his footsteps fading as he left.

She was even more determined to find out what he was up to now so she looked up at the place that the book had been taken from. As she did so her foot knocked something on the floor. She bent down and picked it up. She nearly dropped it as it as the candle held by the withered hand glowed to life.

Scorpius had forgotten to take the Hand of Glory with him in his haste to leave. Shrugging, Lily used the Hand to light the titles of some of the books surrounding the gap which Scorpius's had left, she didn't like what she saw and suddenly knew why he hadn't wanted her to see the book he had taken.


	26. Harry Unhinged

Lily was troubled by the events that had taken place in the Restricted Section of the library last week. She was worried about Scorpius. Worried about what he was planning and what lengths he would go to. Despite telling herself that she never could have suspected it, even from him, she couldn't help but feel like she would be responsible for the result of his research. She knew what he was capable of and knew enough about his background to not be surprised by this but had she really been naive enough not to expect it? She was also beginning to wonder if Malfoy knew anything about his son's extracurricular activities and if he was even in on it. But he couldn't be, could he? He wouldn't, would he?

She decided that he must be completely unaware of the situation and that she should tell him about it. Maybe he could help talk Scorpius out of it.

So at lunch time that day Lily went to Malfoy's dungeon office.

"Lily!" he exclaimed when she entered the room.

"Hi," she forced a smile.

He came over and took her hands in his, beaming. What was this? Was he actually happy?

"What's going on?" she asked no longer having to force the smile that was on her face.

"Can't I just be happy to see you?" he asked, still grinning.

She laughed and kissed him. What had gotten into her? She was supposed to be warning him but she was getting caught up in his happiness instead.

She was attempting to sober herself when he suddenly scooped her up in his arms and spun around, setting her gently back onto her feet. She noticed a bottle of Firewhiskey on his desk; it was three quarters empty.

"I'm so glad I came back here," he said looking into her eyes.

She blushed and smiled up at him. All sense of why she'd come down here now disappeared. Scorpius didn't enter her head again because she was too wrapped up in his father, Draco.

x

Lily had just exited Malfoy's office when she saw them coming down the corridor. It was a group of about six Aurors, she could tell by their robes that they were Ministry Aurors. As they neared her she recognised some of them; her Uncle Ron was there as well as...her father! It was too late to try to hide so she just stood there and waited for them to arrive.

"Lily?" said Harry once they had reached her.

"Dad?" she returned in an almost identical manner.

Neither of them tried to hide their accusatory tone or suspicion of the other.

"What are you doing here?" he said quickly.

"Detention," she said, not looking him in the eye.

She heard him let out an irritable sigh before saying; "Please step aside, we have some official business to attend to with Mr. Malfoy."

"What?" she asked anxiously, catching his eye again.

"That is not your concern, Lily. I suggest you return to your dormitory," he replied stiffly before brushing past her and knocking rapidly on the door.

She watched him with concern and did not budge from where she stood.

Malfoy answered the door, a look of fear flickered across his face which he immediately replaced with a sneer.

"Draco Malfoy?" Harry asked.

"You know who I am Potter," said Malfoy, a little annoyed and making no attempt to be friendly towards Lily's father as she watched on.

Harry ignored Malfoy's reply and continued with his formalities although Lily could tell that he was fighting the urge to hex Malfoy.

"We have an order issued by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures authorising us to search your Hogwarts residence under suspicion of illegally harbouring or breeding a class XXXXX creature," declared Harry holding out a roll of parchment to Malfoy.

"What?" exclaimed Lily and everyone turned to look at her.

"Lily!" said Harry angrily. "I told you to go back to your dormitory!"

"No, what are you doing?" she demanded.

Harry took a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself but his voice still revealed his temper.

"Please return to you dormitory, this is a Ministry matter and does not involve you," he said slowly now probably fighting the urge to hex his daughter.

Lily glanced at Ron for she didn't know what but he merely looked away.

Harry was still piercing her with his stare. Finally she gave in and obeyed; turning and retreating up the corridor slowly. She could feel her father's eyes on her until she disappeared around a corner. With no intention of going any further she waited until she heard their voices again. She pressed herself up against the cold stone wall and peeked around the corner to see the last of the Aurors disappearing into Malfoy's office leaving him standing alone outside. She immediately started back down the corridor to him.

"What's going on?" she asked him as she approached.

"I have no idea," he replied as he peered through the gap in the door.

At that moment they heard a triumphant call from within the office. They exchanged an anxious glance before they heard someone returning to the door.

"Hide," Malfoy hissed at Lily and she quickly crawled in behind a familiar statue as her father reappeared.

"Explain this!" demanded Harry holding out two things, one in each hand.

Lily watched on breathlessly as she recognised her missing toad.

_What the_...? she thought in confusion.

"I have never seen either of those things before in my life," said Malfoy indignantly.

Lily craned her neck to see what was in the other hand; _An egg?_

"Is that the best you can do?" questioned Harry in mock disappointment.

"It's the truth," said Malfoy.

"Enough lies," spat Harry as the rest of the Aurors returned from their searching, or ransacking as it seemed from the clattering and loud noises which had accompanied it.

"Draco Malfoy you are under arrest for attempting to breed a Basilisk, a highly dangerous, known Wizard-killer and class XXXXX magical creature. Ron, take his wand."

It all happened so quickly that Lily hardly had time to realise what was going on. One of the other Aurors had cast a non-verbal spell on Malfoy causing his hands to be bound behind him. Ron had roughly pulled Malfoy's wand from the inside of his robes and they were now marching him down the corridor. Harry, stilling carrying Hamlet and the chicken's egg, had a look of almost mad delight upon his face.

Lily didn't know what to think, she'd lost her toad after she'd been with Malfoy and now here was Hamlet in Malfoy's office sitting on a chicken's egg. This was the only known way to hatch a Basilisk, the very creature that was once one of Lord Voldemort's choice weapons. The same Lord Voldemort that Malfoy had once sworn allegiance to and had numerous times tried to kill her father. She tried to fight the thoughts of suspicion that were creeping up on her, she knew Malfoy; his Death Eater days were over. He couldn't possibly be trying to hatch a dangerous and murderous creature, could he? She reasoned with herself that she did have an undeniable and unfounded trust in Malfoy and had turned a blind eye to his poor treatment of Rose, Neville and even Hagrid. Was this now blinding her to his true intentions and loyalties?


	27. Scorpius' Plan Fails

With Malfoy now gone, Lily was forced to face the reality of Scorpius once again. With Malfoy gone, she'd have to deal with him herself.

As she attempted to avoid it as much as possible, her efforts were thwarted by a chance encounter.  
She was walking along a deserted corridor, on her way back to Gryffindor tower when she saw him approaching her from the other direction. They both glanced around trying to find a tapestry or statue that they knew was hiding a secret passage away. Alas, the particular stretch of corridor between them offered no such escape so they were forced to meet in the middle as their paths crossed.

Lily knew she had to say something; she couldn't just let this slide.

"Scorpius," she said quietly when he was within earshot.

"What?" he said defensively without looking at her.

"You left the Hand of Glory in the library the other night," she said as a peace offering.

"I know," he replied finally looking at her.

She saw the same hopeless look in his eyes that she sometimes saw in his father's.

"Can I talk to you about that?" she asked.

"About what?" he said.

"I saw what section you were in," she stated.

"You don't know what you're talking about," he said, getting defensive again.

"Is this about your mother?" Lily asked timidly. "Are you trying to bring her back?"

He was about to answer her when some other students appeared at the end of the corridor. Lily glanced at them and was not pleased to see Rose, Albus and a couple of other Gryffindors approaching them.

Rose and her couple of friends stopped when they got to where Lily and Scorpius stood. Albus, avoiding Lily's gaze, hurried off without pause. Before Lily could wonder about his strange behaviour Rose folded her arms and narrowed her eyes.

"Lily," she said, not even attempting to hide the scorn in her voice.

"Don't you know it's rude to interrupt other people's conversations Weasley?" said Scorpius before Lily could say anything. His tone held just as much contempt as Rose's had.

"Don't you know it's rude to exist when no one wants you to Malfoy?" replied Rose angrily.

"Rose," said Lily shocked at the brutality of Rose's remark.

"Oh so you're going to defend _him_?" said Rose rounding on Lily.

"It's not like..." began Lily but Rose cut in.

"It's not like that! That's what you told me before too. You know what Lily I think it is like that. I think it's exactly like that! I just can't believe you'd sink that low."

Rose's words cut Lily deep. They had never, ever, had an argument like this. Lily had heard Rose speak like this to other people but she'd never been on the receiving end before. Rose was glaring at her and it was bringing tears to Lily's eyes.

"Watch your mouth," said Scorpius dangerously, pulling out his wand.

Rose had drawn hers now too, while Lily and Rose's two friends watched on anxiously.

"Stop," said Lily. "Don't hurt each other."

"I can't believe you're still defending him," said Rose, her eyes fixed on Scorpius. The hatred in both their eyes burned intensely.

"I can't believe you think you're a match for me," taunted Scorpius as if he was urging Rose to hex him.

"What's going on here?" called the voice of Professor Naos.

Rose and Scorpius finally looked away from one another in the direction of Professor Naos.

Lily noted that Scorpius looked disappointed and Rose looked relieved.

"Not duelling I hope," said Naos eyeing them all with her stern gaze.

"Not at all Professor," replied Scorpius tucking his wand away.

"Well in that case, stop loitering and return to your dormitories please."

She stood there until they all started to move; Rose and her two friends in the direction of Gryffindor Tower and Scorpius and Lily in the opposite direction.

"Miss Potter, aren't you a Gryffindor?" asked Naos.

"Yes, Professor," replied Lily. She was desperate to continue her conversation with Scorpius. "I just need... to visit the library..."

"Very well, but be quick about it," said Naos in an irritated voice before marching off in the opposite direction.

Rose had stopped and was listening to them. Her gaze met Lily's and she huffed off again. Lily watched her go and then turned back around. Scorpius was gone.

Lily wasn't going to let him get away that easily so she started to sprint down the corridor and just as she rounded the corner she almost ran into him.

"Watch it," he said as she came to a halt only inches from him.

"Sorry," she said before adding. "Can we talk?"

"I thought we were," replied Scorpius as he rested his back on the wall and slid down to sit on the floor.

Lily sat down next to him. He wasn't looking at her.

"You can't do this," she said gently.

He didn't respond.

Lily reached out with a shaking hand to touch him but he pulled away. She retracted her hand and sat there in silence.

"It can't be done," Scorpius finally said.

"I'm sorry," said Lily quietly.

"I wanted to find the answer there. I'd looked everywhere else. I just wanted to see her again, even if it was only for a moment," said Scorpius.

His eyes were dry but there was unmistakable sorrow in his voice.

What could Lily say to this? She had no idea what it felt like to lose a parent. She thought for a moment about her father. He had lost both of his parents.

"You still have your dad," said Lily.

"For how much longer?" questioned Scorpius.

Lily felt a pang of guilt. It was her fault that her father had shown up and searched Malfoy's office. It was her fault he was arrested. It was because of her that he could be going to Azkaban.

"I don't think they have enough evidence to hold him for much longer," she said in an attempt to convince herself just as much as him.

They both sat in silence for a while, both deep in thought.

Scorpius reached into his bag that was sitting next to him and withdrew a shiny piece of material.

"Here, you can have that back," he said handing the Invisibility Cloak to her.

Lily took it and stared at it. Scorpius stood up, shouldering his bag.

"See you around Potter," he said as he turned and walked away.

Lily sat there for a long time after he'd left holding her Invisibility Cloak and thinking about Malfoy.

Would she ever see him again? Had her father finally figured out the truth or was he just trying to make one of them crack? She doubted that he knew. He had been too calm. He must have suspected but he had no evidence.

She wondered how powerful the magic in the Secret Message Parchment was. Taking it out of her pocket and extracting a quill from her bag she wrote; _Where are you?_ on it and tapped it three times with her wand. She waited for a long time but no answer appeared. If he was being held at the Ministry it was unlikely that the charm on the paper would reach that far. She hadn't expected a reply but that didn't stop her from wanting one.

Finally she stood up and put on the Invisibility Cloak. She wore it to the portrait hole, through the common room and up to her dormitory. She still didn't even take it off when she reached her bed, falling asleep underneath it to the whispered conversation of her roommates. 

"Did you hear about Lily and Scorpius Malfoy..." 


	28. Reunited

It had been one long miserable week since Malfoy had been arrested and taken away from Hogwarts. Not only was Lily worried that she'd never see him again but she was also fighting the gossip about her and Scorpius. Everywhere she went people whispered and stared. All of the Gryffindors were giving her the cold shoulder as well as the Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. The Slytherins were the same as usual which was less than friendly anyway and she was more alone than ever. She was avoiding Scorpius so as to not fuel the gossip but noticed that when she did see him he was, as ever, undaunted by what people were saying about him. Gossip didn't bother him yet Rose's direct insult had seemed to have had an effect on him. He also seemed to have forgotten the conversation he had had with Lily about his mother and was generally unchanged in his ways.

Lily was last to arrive at her Potions lesson which was no longer a joy to attend. She entered the dungeon and let out an audible gasp. A few people looked at her. She didn't care that they were staring at her but because he was there. Malfoy was standing at the front of the classroom; he was back. He passed his gaze over her and returned to flipping through the book on his desk. Lily took a seat at the back of the room alone. She couldn't help but be relieved to see him there and even allowed herself a small smile. Malfoy set them to work with some particularly boring theory work about the properties of various potions ingredients. The class chatted loudly and didn't hide the fact that they were talking about Malfoy's arrest. The story had spread like wild fire through the school but apparently his return had not been as widely known. He sat at his desk for the entire time the class was going on and didn't look up. He didn't even bother to tell them to be quiet. He didn't meet Lily's anxious gaze once.

She felt a little hurt by the fact that he hadn't told her he was back. Was he angry at her? Did he know that she had doubted him? She had tried not to think the worst of him but how had Hamlet gotten into his office and where had the egg come from? The last time Lily had seen Hamlet was when she was with Malfoy. Had he taken him in order to hatch a Basilisk? What Lily knew of Malfoy's character it seemed both possible and impossible at the same time. He had been a Death Eater once but he was also admittedly a coward. He was afraid of Hippogriffs for Merlin's sake; he would hardly be game enough to hatch a deadly creature that he wouldn't be able to control... unless he was doing it for someone else. The inner battle about this that Lily had somehow avoided for the past week suddenly raged within her and it all came down to one question; did she trust him or not?

When the bell finally rang the class left and Lily went with them. She allowed them all to pass by her and when no one was watching she doubled back and found Malfoy just locking the door to the classroom. He glanced at her and then started in the direction of his office. Lily followed and as he didn't protest took it as a sign that she could go with him. They walked in silence and Lily noticed as he passed under the light of a nearby lamp that he had a black eye. In the darkness of the dungeon she hadn't seen it earlier. She felt the anger build up in her at her father; he was responsible for this.

Malfoy opened the door to his office and held it so that Lily could enter. She slipped past him and he closed the door, locking it behind them.

Lily was suddenly scared to speak. She had no idea what he was feeling, what he was thinking. She didn't have much time to consider it at that moment because he suddenly grabbed her and was kissing her. He was pushing her backwards towards the desk and she didn't know what was happening. She finally got over her surprise and started to kiss him back. She touched his face with her hand and he pulled back flinching at the pain.

"Sorry," she apologised immediately, looking at his bruised eye and cheek with concern. "How did that happen?"

"The Ministry Aurors don't worry about being gentle," he said with a humourless laugh.

"I'm sorry," she said again. What else could she say?

"I don't blame you," he said. "It's my fault."

Lily looked at him questioningly. She didn't want to ask what he meant by that but she needed to know.

He fixed her with a stare and then said; "I know what you're thinking."

"What?" she breathed, hardly ready for the truth that she yearned to know.

"I was set up," he said. "I wasn't trying to do anything. I never knew your toad was here. I don't know where that egg came from."

"I believe you," she whispered looking into his eyes and knowing that he spoke the truth.

He smiled at her but said nothing.

"Do you want me to fix that?" she asked indicating the bruise on his face.

"I was never much good at healing spells," he said.

She pulled out her wand and muttering a few spells waved it over his face. The bruise faded and the swelling went down substantially.

"Well I'm not great either but that's a lot better," she said as she gently pushed his chin away so she could see the result better.

He took her hand and whispered a thank you before kissing her again.

She allowed herself to think that he was just happy to see her but a tiny voice at the back of her mind asked if this was true or was he really just trying to get back at her father?


	29. Apology Not Accepted

Lily was overjoyed by the fact that Malfoy had returned and with no solid evidence against him he had been cleared of all charges. As she and Scorpius had not been spotted together again the gossip had shifted from being about them to being about Malfoy. While this wasn't completely favourable this did cause Lily to be in a much better mood. She decided that she'd use this to try and make amends with Rose, who she valued dearly as both a cousin and a friend.

It was a Friday evening when Lily approached Rose in the Gryffindor common room. Rose was sitting in one of the armchairs near the window reading a copy of the Daily Prophet. She looked sulky but Lily didn't let this dampen her spirits.

"Hi Rose," she said, taking a seat in the vacant chair next to Rose.

Rose ruffled the newspaper in an annoyed manner and continued to read.

"You can't stay angry at me forever, we are family," said Lily, determined to make things right.

"I'm not angry," replied Rose, although she defiantly sounded like she was. "I'm just disappointed and _disgusted_ by you."

Lily had thought she was prepared for this but the words stung her.

"I'm sorry I don't live up to _your_ standards," said Lily as sudden anger swelled within her.

Rose looked momentarily surprised by Lily's words, and tone.

"Well I'm sorry that your standards are so low," she said heatedly. "And sorry that you think that a git like Malfoy is the best that you can do."

The phrase 'git like Malfoy' was the last straw. Now Rose really had insulted Lily.

"Well I'm sorry," yelled Lily standing up. "That _you_ think it's any of _your_ business who I hang around with."

"Don't you remember we're family, so it is my business," Rose yelled back also standing.

By this time the whole common room had gone silent and were watching the two intently, hanging off every word.

"You can't tell me what to do Rose," said Lily lowering her voice only a fraction.

Rose glared at her with almost as much venom as when she looked at Scorpius.

Lily returned the glare before storming off. When she reached the stairs leading to the dormitories she stopped.

With tears in her eyes she turned and called back across the room at Rose; "And for what it's worth I was never with Scorpius Malfoy. We're barely even friends let alone anything else but right now he's worth a hundred of you. I suggest you stop listening to the gossip before it costs you more than just me!"

With that she turned around and ran up the stairs, slamming the door to her dormitory behind her, with the shocked look on Rose's face imprinted in her memory.


	30. Discovered

Lily woke the next morning and dressed in silence as her roommates feigned sleep. She left the dormitory without a word and was on her way down to the lake. It was early March and time for Hagrid's squid to be released. She had been looking forward to this moment and at the same time dreading it. She didn't want to say goodbye to them. They had been a constant source of joy to her this year and to let them go almost felt like letting that go too. She passed Albus in the corridor and he glanced away as soon as their eyes met. Was he ashamed of her? Did he feel the same way as Rose? There was something strange in the way he'd looked at her for that fleeting second. Was it guilt? She didn't have time to ask him because he hurried away quite quickly. Something wasn't right, she suddenly had a very bad feeling and then it happened...

She looked up and saw her father, Harry Potter, storming down the corridor towards her. She didn't have time to try to assess his mood.

"Hi Dad," she said in an unsure tone eyeing him as he stopped only inches in front of her.

He was visibly fuming.

"What are y..." she started to ask.

"Where did you get this?" he demanded suddenly cutting in as he roughly grabbed the pendant that hung around her neck.

"It... it was a gift," she returned weakly. She had never seen her father this angry before.

"A gift from who? Who gave it to you?" he shot the second question at her before she could answer the first.

Lily just stood there is shock. What could she say? What could she do? She had no idea so she did and said nothing. Was this the meaning behind Albus' actions only moments before? Did he know something? Had he told their father?

"Answer me!" shouted Harry and she flinched.

He seemed to falter for a moment as if he regretted scaring her. It was just enough time for her to invent a story.

"It was a gift from Anthony McLaggen," she said softly masking her fear with faux embarrassment.

He scrutinised her face for a while before saying quietly; "You're lying."

Lily gulped, she should have been outraged that he'd accused her of lying but she wasn't because she knew he was right and worst of all she knew that he knew he was right. He knew her too well plus she was a terrible liar.

"It's _him_ isn't it?" said Harry, apparently unable to speak Malfoy's name.

"Who?" asked Lily timidly, surprised by her own daring; this would probably only make him angrier but she had to stall as long as she could even if was only for a second.

"You know perfectly well _who_ ," said Harry dangerously as his stare bore into her eyes making them water.

She didn't say anything, she didn't want to lie to her father anymore but she certainly didn't want to tell him the truth either so she just stood there staring at him. He was still holding onto her necklace and it was starting to cut painfully into the back of her neck. He seemed to have realised this at the same time as her because he suddenly pulled down hard on it, reefing it until it broke and came away from her. Lily whimpered quietly but still said nothing.

Harry stared at his daughter's beloved possession for a moment before turning and throwing it down the corridor with force. His eyes had burned with hatred and disgust as he'd looked at it. She heard it hitting the floor at a long distance away. She suddenly felt like her heart was going to explode with emotion. She hated her father for reacting like this. She hated Malfoy for not being there. She hated herself for causing her father so much pain. She hated Albus for not hanging around to see the consequences of his actions. She was grieved to see her gift from Malfoy sailing through the air and hitting the stone floor, probably breaking. She was frightened about what would happen next. Before anything else could run through her head, Harry was facing her again, a pained look on his face.

"How could you Lily?" he finally asked. _"How could you?"_

The tears began to roll down her face now, she couldn't take it anymore, not the way he'd asked the question. He was pleading, as though he wanted more than anything for her lie to be true and his suspicions to be wrong. He was disappointed in her, maybe even disgusted by her.

After a very long pause Lily stopped sobbing and looked up at him.

"I love him," she said. Although her voice was barely audible Harry still heard her.

"I'm sorry," he said and for a second Lily rejoiced but she then saw that he had pulled out his wand. "But I can't let this happen, I just can't. Petrificus Totalus."

Lily suddenly felt her whole body go rigid as her arms snapped to her sides and her legs snapped together. She attempted to break free but it was as though she was stuck by super glue. Her eyes widened in horror as she knew what her father was going to do and because she couldn't stop him. She began to tetter backwards and was mentally bracing herself for the impact of hitting the ground but Harry caught her and gently lowered her to the floor.

"I'm sorry," he said again before turning and heading down the corridor towards the stairs, breaking into a run as he reached them.

His footsteps soon faded away and Lily was left lying on her back in the middle of the corridor, completely powerless. Tears still managed to fall from her eyes; she was picturing the various scenarios that would be taking place at any moment now in the dungeons.

Just as Lily was starting to think that she would be stuck there forever she heard footsteps approaching her. She strained her eyes to see who it was but it wasn't until they loomed over her that she finally saw who it was. She had never been so happy to see Scorpius Malfoy.

"You seem to have gotten yourself into a bit of bother, Potter," he pointed out as a smirk formed on his face.

Lily gave him her most pleading look but he still just smiled down at her, amused by her situation.

"What's that? I can't hear you," he said chuckling. "Well if you're not going to talk to me, I guess I'll just leave."

He turned to walk away but stopped after only a few steps. He still had his back to her and Lily was willing him to release her from the curse. After another minutes pause he finally turned around again.

"Finite," he muttered lazily.

Lily immediately felt the movement return to her body and was up and heading past Scorpius in the direction her father had gone when he put his arm out and caught her around the waist.

"Let me go!" she demanded as she fought against him. It was no use; he was too powerful for her.

"Wait a minute, Potter," he said. "What's going on?"

"My father knows!" she screamed. "He's on his way down to _your_ father to..." she trailed off. To do what? She couldn't bring herself to suggest it.

Scorpius immediately let go of her and they both started running down the corridor towards the stairs. Scorpius was ahead and already jumping down the steps four at a time by the time Lily reached them. She pelted down after him wishing that at any moment she'd wake up from this terrible nightmare.


	31. Confronted

When Lily got to the corridor leading to the Potions dungeons she could hear voices and she could see someone standing near the wall. As she approached she noticed that it was Scorpius, he had stopped and was hiding around the corner, watching what was going on. He had his wand drawn.

She gave him an inquiring look but he didn't reveal anything.

"Come to have another go at my life Potter?" said Malfoy boldly although there were traces of fear in his voice that could not be disguised.

"I saved your life and you know it," Harry fired back. "If it weren't for me you'd have been dead long ago."

Lily took a deep breath and despite Scorpius' silent warnings rounded the last corner and finally the scene she could hear unfolding was before her eyes.

Both wizards had their wands drawn and were glaring at each other with a hatred so intense that for the first time in her life Lily witnessed the loathing that had once existed between the two. She couldn't speak, she couldn't move, she cursed herself for always freezing up like this. She willed her Gryffindor bravery to surface but it didn't.

Malfoy's eyes flickered to her for a split second and she saw a slight amount of hope ignite in them. He was counting on her to save him this time and she didn't know if she could.

"Lily!" said Harry without taking his eyes off his enemy. "I don't think you should be here."

Lily could feel movement creeping back into her paralysed body but she stood exactly where she was.

"Lily," it was Malfoy who spoke this time. He was begging and it tore at Lily's heart to hear them both.

"Don't speak to her," Harry said in a threatening tone as he suddenly shot a hex at Malfoy who deflected it with a Shielding Charm.

Malfoy did not speak but took his gaze from Harry and looked at Lily with pleading eyes. Tears were forming in her eyes now.

_This is all my fault_ , she thought.

Malfoy made the tiniest of movements in Lily's direction. It was barely a motion but more like an involuntary twitch.

Harry still managed to see it and no longer hesitating pointed his wand directly at Malfoy and starting firing spell after spell at him. Roaring curses and hexes Lily had never even heard of. Malfoy was narrowly dodging them and blocking some with more Shielding Charms. He was no match for Harry, who had spent practically his entire life fighting dark wizards.

"Stop!" cried Lily in her panic. "Stop!"

The spells continued to fly.

"Petrificus Totalus!" roared Harry and Malfoy was struck with two spells in a row.

His whole body froze as his arms and legs locked together. He tilted back and hit the wall behind him.

"You've been throwing that curse around a bit lately Potter," said Scorpius suddenly revealing his presence and approaching the scene.

Harry, who had been marching forwards towards Malfoy, stopped in his tracks looked at the boy who so resembled his father.

"Surely, _our saviour,_ could come up with something a bit more creative," taunted Scorpius showing that he very much resembled his father, at the same age, in more than just looks.

"Stay out of this," said Harry looking back at the older Malfoy.

"I don't think I can do that," Scorpius stated before suddenly pointing his wand at Harry and crying; "Petrificus Totalus!"

The curse hit Harry completely by surprise and he became rigid before falling backwards to the floor.

Scorpius howled with laughter.

"This is priceless," he managed to say once his maniacal laughter had ceased. "I see why you like that one so much."

Lily watched him cautiously. She didn't know what he would do next, he was very unpredictable.

He walked towards Harry and Lily stepped forward.

"Relax," said Scorpius noticing this. "I won't hurt him." He flicked his wand and she watched as he levitated her father's still form over next to his own father's where they were both propped up against the wall.

Lily slowly walked over to them, all the while staring at Scorpius.

"What do you think, Lil?" he asked. "Should I start a collection?"

Lily didn't reply but finally pulled her eyes from him and looked at the two motionless wizards.

For the first time she noticed that Malfoy's face had deep gashes across it. They were coloured deep red with blood but it appeared that the blood was somehow also frozen by the Body Bind Curse.

Her eyes darted between her father and Malfoy. They were both looking to her for help. She couldn't stand by any longer so she drew her wand.

"What are you doing?" asked Scorpius, sobering quickly.

"Releasing them," she said as she raised her wand.

Scorpius grabbed her wrist and tightened his grip painfully.

"You might be happy to stand by and watch your father kill mine but I'm not," he said.

She held tight to her wand but the circulation to her hand was slowly being cut off by the tightness of his hold on her.

"Oh that's rich, coming from you who just spent the last ten minutes hiding while they actually tried to kill each other!" said Lily angrily as her grip on her wand began to slacken. "Let go of me!"

Scorpius didn't budge. Instead he raised his own wand a pointing it at his father said; "Finite."

Malfoy slumped against the wall as the curse was lifted. He slid to the ground and sat there a moment.

Lily reefed herself free from Scorpius and knelt down beside him. His face was now covered in blood as the wounds she'd seen paused were suddenly reanimated as well.

"He needs to go to the hospital wing," said Lily looking up at Scorpius. "I can't fix this."

Malfoy still hadn't spoken. His eyes were rolling back in his head now and he no longer seemed capable of standing. How had this happened? He'd seemed fine before he'd been hit with the Body Bind Curse. What was the other curse that had hit him?

Scorpius was just staring at his blood soaked father. His face was paler than usual.

"Quickly!" shouted Lily. "He needs to go to the hospital wing!"

This seemed to have worked because Scorpius suddenly knelt down and helped his father to his feet. Using his wand he levitated him slightly but still held onto him and hurried away down the hallway towards the stairs supporting his now barely conscious father.

Lily waited until they were gone before lifting the spell on her own father.

"What did you think you were doing?" she fired at him straight away. "You could've killed him!"

"I wasn't going to kill him," spat Harry angrily. "I had to do something."

He still looked quite angry and Lily wasn't sure if she should push her luck too much more.

"What did you do to him?" she asked.

"Only what he deserved," said Harry.

"It was that spell wasn't it?" she questioned. "The same one you used on him when you were at school. The one that caused the scars on his chest."

"You've seen his chest!" shouted Harry angrily.

Lily didn't say a word. Apparently she'd already said too much.

Her silence was confirmation enough however and Harry let out a roar of fury and started charging down the hallway.

Lily took off after him and by this stage he was ranting almost incoherently about 'that filthy Death Eater' and 'my daughter'.

"Stop!" yelled Lily finally catching up with him and grabbing hold of his arm. "Stop!"

"Let go Lily!" roared Harry throwing her off.

"No!" she yelled grabbing him again. "Oh will you just stop this? You've done enough!"

"I could never do _enough_ to him for what he's done!" Harry yelled back as he came to a halt and looked at her. "You're my daughter Lily. I can't let him get away with this. I can't let you get away with this. Oh what were you thinking?"

His rage seemed to have subsided for the moment and once again he was looking at Lily with pain and disappointment in his eyes.

"You've done enough. You've punished us both enough," said Lily quietly wiping her tear streaked face. "You've put him in the hospital for crying out loud."

He looked at her for a long time. He was looking at her like she was a stranger; like he didn't even know her. It broke her heart and she sensed that his heart was also breaking.

"I'm going to the hospital wing," said Lily resolutely.

Harry opened his mouth immediately to protest but Lily continued before he had a chance to speak.

"I just need to check that he's ok, I have to," she said.

Harry looked thoroughly annoyed by this but also seemed to be trying to tread carefully. Had he finally realised how serious Lily was about Malfoy?

"I'm coming with you," he said after a few minutes consideration.

Lily, who was also trying to be as cooperative as possible agreed and they set off together. They made the trip to the hospital wing in complete silence and it was by far the longest walk Lily had even taken with her father.

When they reached the door Lily stopped.

"I'm going in alone," she said.

"Over my dead body!" protested Harry immediately.

"Dad, please," said Lily. "I only need a moment."

He stared at her defiantly, not wanting to give in.

"Can you go to the Owlery and send mum a message to come here?" continued Lily. "I think we all need to sit down and talk about this."

Harry looked surprised by this request but seemed to think it was a good idea so he departed after promising to be back as soon as possible.

Lily entered the hospital wing and was met by the sight of the nurse fussing over Malfoy while firing questions at Scorpius about how it had happened.

None of them seemed to have noticed that Lily had entered the room. She watched on anxiously until the nurse bustled away.

Malfoy was at least conscious now and he was talking to Scorpius. She couldn't hear what their quiet voices were saying. They both fell silent after a moment and she approached them.

Lily was surprised to see the concern etched into Scorpius' face. But why was she surprised? This was his father after all.

"Lily," Malfoy whispered as he noticed her.

Scorpius glanced at her and mumbled something about waiting outside before leaving. He shot Lily a disapproving look on his way past but didn't say anything else.

"Draco," Lily whispered back. It was all she could manage as the sight of him brought fresh tears to her eyes.

The Hogwarts nurse was a very skilled witch and had sealed all of the gashes across Malfoy's face. There were still marks visible however and Lily wondered if scars would remain when he was fully healed. Presently, his face was ghostly pale and he seemed quite shaken.

She sat down on the edge of the bed and he reached out to take her hand which he squeezed weakly. He managed a small smile.

"I'm so sorry," she said as she returned his gentle grip. "This is all my fault."

"No," replied Malfoy looking into her eyes. "No, it's not your fault. None of this is your fault. I should've known better."

"I'm glad you didn't," she admitted and he smiled again. "I don't regret any of this."

"Neither do I," he said. "You're the best thing that's happened to me in a long time."

His statement caused the tears that Lily had been holding in to fall freely down her face. His words would only make the next ones she had to speak harder.

"I don't know what's going to happen," she said. "I'm going to speak to my father and mother now and I don't know what will come of that."

He seemed to sense that she was bracing him for a good bye. He squeezed her hand again and a single tear leaked out of his one of his own eyes.

Without caring if the nurse saw them or not, Lily leaned down and kissed him gently on the lips.

"I love you," she whispered.

She then stood up and left him lying there, watching her, neither of them knowing if they would actually see each other again or not.


	32. Ultimatum

Lily passed Scorpius on her way out. He'd been waiting just outside the door.

"Thank you," said Lily brushing his arm with her hand.

He went straight back into the hospital and Lily noticed her parents waiting for her a short distance away. Her mother was holding her father's arm as though she had been stopping him from bursting into the hospital wing and finishing what he'd started.

How had her mother gotten here so quickly? Her father must have sent his Patronus with the message instead of an owl. Lily had been hoping that she would have a bit more time before they entered into their conversation but she knew her father too well; he wouldn't have been able to wait.

She went over to them and was grateful for the concerned yet kind smile that her mother offered. They let themselves into a vacant classroom and sat down.

"Well?" demanded Harry immediately. "What happened in there?"

"Harry!" said Ginny frowning at him. "Let Lily speak."

"Thanks Mum," said Lily smiling at her mother.

Harry looked a little ashamed of himself and remained silent.

"I guess you've filled Mum in on the details?" asked Lily looking at her father but not meeting his eyes.

"Yes," said Ginny gently answering for him.

"I'm sorry," said Lily looking between the two and it was true. She really was sorry for everything; for causing them so much pain and worry; for the rift that had been created between her and Rose; for the position that Albus had been put in; for missing the release of the squid with Hagrid.

"We don't blame you Lily," said Ginny looking at her daughter with concern. "He should've known better."

"He _did_ know better," said Lily, outraged that her parents were prepared to make excuses for her and blame everything on Malfoy.

"Oh _please_ ," interjected Harry. "You're only fifteen. He's old enough to be your father for Merlin's sake. Don't tell me he's convinced you that this is your fault. I suppose he was an innocent bystander in the whole affair."

"He hasn't convinced me of any such thing," retorted Lily. "He didn't even try. He thinks he's in the wrong ."

"With good reason," said Harry. "He is in the wrong. He's a teacher, you're his student."

"Lily, your father's right," said Ginny calmly. "You're still very young. He's taken advantage of you and he shouldn't have done that."

Lily let out an exasperated sigh. They were both treating her like a little kid. She was just as much to blame as Malfoy. But why should there be any blame anyway; it wasn't a crime to love somebody.

"Look," said Harry unable to wait any longer. "I don't want to play the blame game here. I just want to know if this is all over."

Lily looked at him. She knew he was going to say this but she'd been hoping he wouldn't.

Ginny glanced at Harry and they exchanged a look full of meaning but Lily couldn't tell what it was they were both thinking.

"Lily," said Ginny reaching out and putting her hand on Lily's. "We need to know that this is the end of it. Just tell us that you aren't going to see... _him_ , anymore and we'll agree to just forget the whole thing."

Harry looked very putout and Ginny shot him a reproachful look.

"Won't we Harry?" she said firmly.

"Yes," he said shortly and reluctantly.

" _Just forget it?_ " said Lily infuriated. "Just forget it? I don't think that you get this. I love him."

"Lily!" roared Harry no longer able to control himself. "This is ridiculous. You don't love _him_."

She opened her mouth to retaliate but Ginny cut in.

"What your father means is that this can't go on," she spoke calmly but firmly. "You can't stay with him."

"Exactly," chimed in Harry. "Now can you give us your word that this is over?"

Lily looked at her parents. She knew that both had a point but she didn't want to accept it.

"Don't make me choose between you and him," Lily said tears suddenly glistening in her eyes.

"We're making you choose Lily," replied Harry. "Because you can't have both."

She closed her eyes; it was the only way to stop herself from crying. How could her own father be forcing her to choose? How could he give her this ultimatum?

"Make your decision Lily," Harry pressed as Ginny watched them both carefully.

This was it. Lily knew that it must come to this at some point. She'd known it all along but she'd let herself block it out and now here it was demanding that she face it. She suddenly felt exhausted as though for the first time she could feel the weight of everything that she'd been carrying on her shoulders this year. She couldn't do it anymore. Her mother was right, she was too young, too young to have this much pressure on her. She didn't know it but she'd made her decision before the conversation with her parents had even begun. She knew what she had to do and she knew that she had to do it now.


	33. Lily's Decision

Lily felt the weight lifted from her shoulders as her heart sank.

"You have my word," she said and her voice was unexpectedly steady. "I won't see him anymore. I won't write to him. I won't try to contact him. It's over."

Harry and Ginny both let out a sigh of relief and looked at each other, smiling.

"We knew you'd see sense," said Harry putting his hand on her shoulder and looking down at her.

The relief on his face was a welcomed sight. She was tired of seeing contempt and disappointment in the eyes of the people she loved. She was tired of trying to fight everyone. This was so much easier.

Ginny hugged her and Lily was surprised that she didn't break down at her mother's touch. She didn't shed one more single tear.

When they exited the room Scorpius was waiting. Harry and Ginny allowed Lily to go to him.

"He's been transferred to St. Mungo's," said Scorpius. "Professor Wandwood said I can go with him but he wanted me to stay and let you know."

Lily watched Scorpius as he spoke. He was the only person who had accepted her relationship with Malfoy when he was probably the one person who should've been opposed to it the most. She was suddenly so grateful towards him.

"He wanted me to tell you that he's not coming back. He's been sacked."

Lily nodded.

"I'm sorry," she said reaching out and taking Scorpius' hand. He didn't pull away this time.

"I'm sorry too," he said before taking his hand back. "I better get going now. See you around Potter."

Lily watched him disappear back into the hospital wing. As she stood there and reflected on the events of that day she felt empty and beaten. Yes, she was beaten; there was no fighting anymore because the battle was over. She no longer felt like she needed to go after him or to wait anxiously for Malfoy to return because he wasn't going to. He really was gone this time. She no longer had to lie and hide. She no longer had to watch her every move, living in constant fear that she'd be discovered. She felt relieved but empty.

As she stood there still staring at the door to the hospital wing her eyes remained dry because she knew that it was over; that this was the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just the epilogue to go...


	34. Epilogue

Two Years Later...

Lily Potter was standing at the mouth of Knockturn Alley, gazing down its dark throat, she was quite alone. No one who visited Diagon Alley would be caught lingering here and no one who visited Knockturn Alley would venture this far from its shadowy depths. She wore long black robes and her dark red hair fell freely all the way down to her waist. She always wore her hair like this; she had for the last two years. She knew that was how _he_ liked it and even though she had not seen him in that time and did not know where he was she still wanted to wear her hair long and free because that was the way he liked it.

She pulled the hood of her cloak up over her head and allowed it to partially cover her face. Drawing her wand she stepped forward and began her descent into the shady alleyway. The buildings were close together with small gaps between creating narrow side alleys that witches and wizards meet in to conduct business of questionable   
legality. She ignored this, she was used to it and she knew that in a place like this it paid to mind your own business.

She didn't really know how it had happened but she had been drawn to this place and she'd made acquaintances here. She had somehow become a part of the Knockturn Alley crowd. She was by no means a Dark witch but she had long since abandoned any hope of becoming a prominent and admired member of the Wizarding community as so many had expected her to. She had given her father one allowance, one that had cost her the man she loved, and now she lived for herself and did as she pleased. No one would sway her anymore. Not that any of this meant that she had become estranged from her family. She still loved them all dearly, especially her father, but she had just made the decision to not let them make her decisions, or her mistakes, for her anymore.

Summer was almost over and Lily was feeling a strange emptiness knowing that when September came this year she would not be going back to Hogwarts. She would miss the old school so much yet she wondered why. She had spent seven years there and had not befriended one of the other students. She had spent most of her time either with her cousins and siblings or her teachers, Hagrid and Neville, who were her parents' friends. When she wasn't with any of them, she was alone except for...she found it hard to think about him yet he was all she thought of. Perhaps her plans for the year would benefit her more than she knew. She would be going to Romania to work with her Uncle Charlie and his dragons. Being away from home would probably do her the world of good.

Dismissing her thoughts she entered a dingy little shop and glanced at the counter.

"Is that you Lily?" asked a gruff voice that was not at all friendly.

"Yes," she replied quietly and equally as unfriendly.

The aging wizard huffed and returned to reading an article entitled _The Dying Dark Arts_ in the _Daily Prophet_. His moody frown deepening as he progressed further through it.

Lily ignored him and continued her browsing. The dusty shelves were lined with rare and expensive potion ingredients as well as a small collection of pre-made potions. Locating the one she wanted; _Dragon Breath Freshener,_ she picked it up and took it to the counter.

The store owner eyed it with disgust before speaking in the same tone as before.

"I only get that in for you y'know?"

"I know," she returned as she handed him the money and left the shop without another word.

She was looking down at the bottle of bright blue liquid she'd just purchased when she bumped into someone in the street. She lost her balance and began to fall but was suddenly stopped. The person that she had run into had caught her. She felt her heart beat quicken as they helped her regain a standing position. She pulled her hood away from her face in order to see who it was; her blue eyes met with some familiar grey ones.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's it for Lily Potter and the Potions Professor. If you are keen to find out what happens to Lily and Draco head on over to fanfiction.net and check out the sequel. It's called 'Never Let Go' and is written by TreasureHunterGirl. It's a work in progress, so if you do read it be sure to leave a review as I'm sure that will encourage her to post updates more often. Thanks to everyone for reading and it's not too late to leave a comment :D


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